Diamond Hunt
by HermitGrey
Summary: A boy with two Quirks, a Stand, and no memories is discovered in Morioh. Halfway across the world, a woman escapes prison in pursuit of the man who put her father in a coma. And all the while, the villain known as All for One plots to bring an end to hero society.
1. Introducing JoJo and JoJo

Chapter 1 – Introducing JoJo and JoJo

It was as they were leaving the hat shop, on their way to his apartment, that Yasuho finally asked Josuke what his Quirk was.

"I… well, I'm not sure. Because of the amnesia."

"But you could use your Stand right away, couldn't you? How'd you know to do that if you don't know about your Quirk?" She knew he must have a Stand, since he'd blinded Joshu without seeming to do _anything_, and managed to predict (or somehow cause) the policewoman's actions back at the hospital. But she had yet to see him display any of the more typical superhuman abilities the vast majority of mankind possessed these days.

"That's different. Your Stand is your soul; using it is almost innate. Quirks are physical."

"Maybe it's like riding a bike. You know, muscle memory? Just like, I dunno, do what feels natural?"

He seemed to take that seriously, or at least seriously enough to give it a try, alternatively pointing and flailing his hands about in an attempt to blast fire or make random things float.

"Oh, I think I've got it! No, no, false alarm, sorry. Wait! Is it like… no, guess not. Come on, come… yes! Here! It's totally… oh actually, uh, maybe not."

Funny as his antics were, she had to stop him when they finally reached their destination. The apartment belonging to Kira Yoshikage (though she still wanted to call him Josuke, like her dog- he looked nothing like a 'Yoshikage'!)

They entered the building (the key was in an obvious hiding place on top of the door frame, much to Josuke's disbelief) and set to work. The living room had, oddly enough, sculptures of a man's hands, and a huge replica of the Mona Lisa. Like, seriously huge. Yasuho had seen on the internet that the Mona Lisa was actually quite a small painting, but the copy here dominated an entire wall. The kitchen was even more unusual; cabinets filled to the brim with the exact same brand and flavour of canned food.

But bizarre artistic and actual taste turned out to be the least shocking aspect of the domicile once they reached the bathroom. Yasuho felt she could be forgiven for storming out once they saw the grotesque picture album, all the damned booby traps littering the place, and the naked woman in the tub. Seriously though, who'd have thought he was that sort of guy? Certainly not her, she'd believed him cute and harmless.

But, that place spoke for itself. Nails in slippers, photos of women being tortured, some lady acting like she'd been taken prisoner. It didn't seem unreasonable to her that she ghost a guy upon finding out his apartment was straight out of a horror movie.

What _did_ seem unreasonable was returning. That was some 'stupid teenager in a horror movie' behaviour. Just 'cause he reminded her of her dog... Yasuho felt stupid _as _she was doing it.

The scene she returned to was Josuke throwing himself through a sliding glass door (and damn, if he wasn't careful, he'd be cut to ribbons!) From her vantage point, she could already see a new trap he'd walked into, in the form of the snakes now surrounding him out on the veranda. While his dodging was decent, something was already clearly wrong. He only seemed to be dodging with one foot, while the other one and his arms just hung limp.

Nearby was the woman from the bathroom, seemingly cheering for Josuke to win against… some unknown assailant they both seemed aware of. Was that the person who'd trapped the apartment? But then why was Josuke in those photos?

His desperate flailing reached a peak when one of the snakes came within striking distance of his working leg. Seemingly reacting without thinking, he dropped to both knees and twisted his upper body so that his limp arm smacked the snake.

And, maybe it was just her eyes playing tricks on her, but the reptile seemed to disappear. Was that his Quirk or his Stand? Either way, it was effective.

No time for celebration though; as his attention was elsewhere, one of the other snakes bit him on his exposed foot. At some point in his flailing, it had circled around and gotten behind him. Yasuho still wasn't sure she wanted to trust him after seeing this place, but... what if these snakes were venomous?

She decided to deal with… whatever his past was after they'd gotten the hell out of this house. Taking aim with her hands, she blasted out a high-pressure jet of water, cutting all of the snakes attacking Josuke to pieces.

"Hey, are you alright? Those- they weren't venomous were they?"

"Yes."

"Yes you're alright, or yes they were venomous?"

"Oh, sorry. Yes, they were venomous. I've been poisoned. Or wait… envenomed? Is that a word? I feel like it's a word."

Yasuho went across the living room to him, careful to avoid the glass on the ground once she made it to the door he'd shattered.

"Can your Stand get the venom out? Like how it made that policewoman leak all that water?"

"Oh no, my Stand won't work on my own body. But I _do_ feel… something. Yeah, there's definitely _something_ I can do… I just have to… breathe right."

True to his words, his breathing began to slow. She wasn't sure how that would help him, but she wasn't sure of a lot right now, so she figured she'd just go with it. And hey, Quirks can be pretty weird. As she watched, a golden glow began to surround his bite wound, and… some dark liquid- presumably the venom- leaked out, before the hole closed itself up.

"This is it."

"What?"

"My Quirk. This, and the shrinking earlier, when I hit that snake. This must be it! I can heal people and shrink things!" The grin on his face was _almost_ enough to make her forget about the photo album.

"That's all one Quirk? How does it work? From your breathing?"

"Well, not the shrinking thing. But the healing, that light! That needs me to breathe right."

"How much can you shrink stuff? I didn't even realise you'd shrunk the snake, I thought it just disappeared!"

"I don't really know? Not yet at least, I still don't quite understand. But I just have to experiment with it! Figure out how it works! Like this." The glow surrounding his foot shifted, traveling up to his arms, closing the wounds she could see there, and then it went down to his limp leg, presumably to heal yet again.

Finally he stood tall, wounds gone, and pointed upwards.

"The man upstairs, in the room above us. He's a Stand user. If a part of you gets wounded and he's above you, he can take control of that part. That's what he did with my limbs. That's why the place is trapped – he's the one who trapped it." Josuke paused, looking up at the balcony the attacker was situated on. "But now that I'm healed..."

He leapt, outstretched hand catching the balcony edge, and reached out to grab the unknown assailant. With a quick movement, the man was pulled down onto the veranda they were situated on.

On the other side of the world, while they interrogated the man; two women, two men, a child, and a sentient colony of plankton escaped a high-security prison.

* * *

To say Jolyne was frustrated would be an understatement. Between Annasui and FF's constant bickering, Annasui's constant flirtation, Hermes' constant ribbing, and the fucking _constant_ threat of the police finally hunting them down, her stress levels were through the roof.

Hell, they couldn't even find a damn airplane or boat with which to track their quarry, because, surprise surprise, it's fucking impossible for fugitives to get on any form of public transportation.

"Hey, guys! I've got an idea!"

"Oh, great. The bugs are pretending they can think. Wonderful."

"Shut it Annasui. What's up, Foo?"

"Well, we need to get across the ocean right?"

"Your grasp of the obvious is stunning."

"Annasui. I won't tell you again. But Foo, seriously, where are you going with this?"

"Well, if it's across the ocean… and I'm oceanic… why bother with a boat? Everyone can ride me!"

Emporio made some sort of choking sound while Annasui scoffed. Hermes just giggled. Looked like explaining this one was on Jolyne.

"Foo… that's adorable. Really it is. But you can't support all of our weight. And I think you might be underestimating the distance involved."

"Plus, I'm pretty sure that's not the way JoJo really wants to ride you."

"Wow, Hermes. That's _real _classy. Thanks." Jolyne was content to leave it as a joke, but Annasui had… different plans.

"She's not even a person! Just a bunch of worms! No way she's good enough for my Jolyne!"

"Pssh, shows what you know! I'm not worms at all! I think. Hey, Jolyne, do you think I'm worms?"

"No?"

"Hey, don't take her side!"

Really. They had gone through so much effort, tracking down Whitesnake's- or should she say Pucci's- movements. The destinations of the goons he'd ordered around, the recipients of his phone calls, hell, they (or rather, Emporio- honestly, what would they do without that kid) even hacked into bank accounts in order to follow the slippery bastard's money trail.

And you know what? It had worked! Except for the part where it all lead to fucking _Japan_. Like, how the hell were they supposed to get there, again? Plus, their mysterious benefactor they'd been working with (who went by the name Soft and Wet; sending Jolyne and Hermes into a fit of giggles, and causing Foo to keep asking what was so funny) had recently stopped responding to them as well, right when they could have used them the most.

So now they were just moving from hideout to hideout, wandering the west coast, banging their heads against a wall trying to figure out a route to their foe. If they could find just _one_ crooked captain, a bribe could see them straight to their destination. But no one was willing to risk a criminal jaunt to Japan, for fear of the Symbol of Peace.

All Might wasn't just the number one hero in Japan, he was ranked first _globally_. Jolyne could understand the fear of him that permeated the criminal underbelly of the Pacific, but come the fuck on. He was one man, it's not like he was out checking every damn boat in every damn harbour.

As the leader of their merry bunch of misfit murderers, Jolyne had taken a page out of the book of every other would-be 'leader of men': delegate. To that end, she'd started sending out Annasui to try and secure transport across the ocean. With any luck, he wouldn't come back!

No, no, she should stop thinking like that. For all that the man was an arrogant, argumentative ass, he was a very capable Stand user. They'd need him for the fights to come. The situation was making her too irritable. She had to remember that this… delaying, this running around in circles would eventually come to an end.

Her patience was rewarded two days later, when Annasui returned, with a captain willing to look the other way 'til they reached Kyushu. It wasn't perfect, but hell, at least they weren't stranded in fucking California anymore.

There were three rooms onboard for the six (or several thousand, depending on how you viewed FF) of them, and Annasui had, to no one's surprise, attempted to arrange the rooms so that he was with Jolyne. She stuck him with Weather instead.

"Jolyne! Jolyne! Am I rooming with you or Hermes? Or wait, Emporio? That's kinda boring-"

"Rude."

"Plus he's a boy, so it's weird."

"Foo. You are literally plankton. It _couldn't_ be any weirder than it already is."

"Come on! You said you weren't gonna hang out with An-_ass_-ui-"

"It's pronounced Annasui, as well you know, you bunch of fucking maggots."

"So we can hang out instead, right? Right?"

Jolyne sighed. "Yeah, sure. We'll room together."

"Wait, why do I have to room with Emporio?" Hermes butted in.

"Again, rude!"

"Why the fuck does _she_ get to room with you, Jolyne?" Annasui butted in as well.

Jolyne sighed again. Just another fucking day in her war crime of a social group.

* * *

It just didn't make sense. Oh sure, the man who trapped the apartment (Yasuho had already forgotten his name) gave a clear explanation. She wasn't foggy on that part. Blah blah blah, grudge against Kira Yoshikage, whatever.

But Kira wasn't Kira. Or, rather the amnesiac she'd been hanging out with wasn't Kira. That part was fine too, they'd just made a mistake assuming. She was on the level regarding all that.

But what about the disk she'd found along with Josuke? It had been strange and rubbery, and there was an image of some sort of robot on it, with an anchor symbol in its chest. And though he'd been breathing, Josuke hadn't been responsive up until… well, up until she'd accidentally dropped the disk onto him. It had to be some sort of Quirk or Stand business, because it was absorbed straight into him. And then he'd stood up and started talking.

But that wasn't it! His Quirk, for instance, just made no sense. There were two _completely_ unrelated aspects to it. The breathy-healy stuff, and the shrinking stuff, which Not Kira had been more than happy to demonstrate once he got the hang of it. It was as though he had _two _Quirks, ridiculous as it sounded.

They made their way back to the hospital empty handed, so to speak. A bit demoralised. They'd been out all day, followed what Yasuho had thought was a surefire lead, and wound up in some sort of carnival house of horrors.

She knew Josuke hadn't done the things in the photo album, all that having been doctored by the Stand user from the apartment, but why had Josuke been wearing Kira's hat, next to a pile of Kira's clothes? Why did he look so much _like _Kira? And the two Quirks, was that related to… well. He just seemed to have extra _stuff_, in a lot of respects. When she'd first found him, he'd been naked. She wasn't sure she wanted to think about it too much, but what she'd seen… that just wasn't normal. What kind of guy has four?

The hospital hadn't had anything in the way of answers when they'd left (all the standard tests were inconclusive, and no one matching Josuke's description had been reported missing) but when they returned, a doctor frantically stopped them, and marched them into an examination room. He hadn't wanted to allow Yasuho, but Josuke had been adamant that she be present.

Apparently, after the typical tests had shown a whole lot of nothing, they'd begun testing the samples they'd taken from Josuke with their Quirks.

"This is… unprecedented, and it must be the work of a Quirk, or perhaps even a Stand, given the sheer abnormality of it. But our results are certain. You may wish to be sitting down for this part, both of you."

Something in the doctor's tone and manner made them obey. Whatever was going on, it seemed serious, and they both _really _needed some clue of what was happening.

"Your DNA, and most of your organs, come from two different sources. That is to say, those organs belonged to two different people. They've been merged together almost seamlessly, in a way that _really _shouldn't be possible, but the examination was clear."

"That… what are you saying? I'm me. I'm definitely me, so I can't be anyone else… that just isn't possible."

"I wouldn't believe it myself if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. But it's the truth. You are two separate men spliced together. What's more, we've been able to isolate the DNA of the two people whom you... consist of. And both sets of DNA are already on file."

Wide-eyed and open-mouthed; Josuke just stared at the doctor. Nearly twenty seconds passed, and it was clear he wouldn't be able to handle speaking at the moment. Yasuho was feeling the shock pretty hard herself. But they needed to know the rest of the information, so she steeled herself and asked the obvious question.

"Kira Yoshikage, and Kujo Josefumi." The doctor replied. "They both still have family: Kira has- had- a sister named Kyo, and his mother is in this very hospital, being treated for an odd illness which is causing her brain to deteriorate. Kira's mother had, in the past, been married to Kujo's father, so the two share a half-brother, the Stand-wielding hero known as Star Platinum. If you're following the news, however, you'll know-"

"Yeah." Yasuho responded. "He's still in a coma, right? So Josuke, or… uh."

"Josuke's fine, I guess. It's… it's not like I can use both names."

"Alright. What you're saying is Josuke, at this point, only really has a sister left. That Kyo you mentioned."

"That's the unfortunate reality. Actually, his grandfather, Hermit Purple is still alive, I think. But he'd have to be in his eighties or nineties at this point."

They thanked the doctor for his time, and when it became clear Josuke wanted to be left alone with his thoughts, she left him in the hospital.

She couldn't blame him, of course. Truth be told, it was shocking news, and she wasn't even the one affected by it. Was that why he had two Quirks? It made sense, she guessed. Along with his four… actually, forget about that part.

What did this all mean for him? Where would he live, and what would he do? And what kind of power could do that to a person?

She wandered as she wondered. It wasn't as though she had any reason to return home, she already knew what her mother would be getting up to and didn't have _any _desire to deal with that.

Later, she'd reflect that it must have been fate which led the sludge villain to run straight into her as she turned the corner, the arrow in his hand sinking into her collar bone.


	2. Floating, Sinking, Swimming

Chapter 2 – Floating, Sinking, Swimming

In her dream, she was floating above Morioh, watching all the people rush about, cars like toys on the winding roads. She felt like she could point to anyone of those little people, and tell an observer all about them. Who they were, what they wanted. Where they came from, and where they were going.

She found she didn't have to look at the roads to know where they lead, the knowledge was already a part of her. The amount each business made, net and gross, monthly and yearly flashed through her mind. The amount of times a light would turn red over the next half hour. And just as quickly, the information was gone again.

A woman named Kira Kyo was walking home after she finished buying groceries. The shirt she wore had been made in Taiwan, by an unmarried woman named Fen. Kyo would take a left, two rights, a left and continue straight until she reached her apartment building, which was situated on the right. Kyo, in theory, shared the apartment with her mother Holly, who was a doctor. Holly was in the hospital. Not as a doctor, but a patient. Her brain was damaged, and it wouldn't be fixed by any of the means available to the hospital staff.

On a different street Higashikata Jobin was running. His Quirk was speed (capable of short bursts of 120 kph), his Stand was **Speed King **(capable of heating objects to extreme temperatures)**, **and like nearly every Stand-wielding hero (or villain) he'd taken the name of his Stand as his hero name. He was chasing a villain through the streets, and would arrive at said villains location in approximately two minutes.

Also, Yasuho was choking.

It took her a moment to realise she wasn't floating anymore, but was instead being restrained. Her arms were pinned behind her, and there was mud in her mouth.

She kicked out and in, without any plan, lost in her sudden desperation. What- oh that's right. She'd crashed into someone, and… had she been stabbed?

A quick glance confirmed that, yes, there was indeed an arrow sticking out of her clavicle. She didn't have the coherence necessary to wonder why it wasn't bleeding more. For a brief moment she just kept struggling and choking, before regaining enough lucidity to figure out her liquid opponent wouldn't be harmed by kicks.

Luckily for her, her arms were already behind her back. All she had to do was point backwards, and blast water through the villain.

His hold went immediately, along with the rest of him as he lost physical coherency and was scattered backwards. The reprieve was a short one, however, as the villain quickly reconstituted himself with the aid of his Quirk. Yasuho took a defensive stance, hands angled out to fire more water from her own Quirk, but the sludge villain took a different approach this time.

An odd looking figure materialised next, looking like some sort of boxer robot, covered in hearts.

"What on earth is _that_?"

"You can see it? Well, you were just pierced by the arrow, I suppose. This, girl, is my Stand: **Crazy Diamond**."

Yasuho's mind was running at a mile a minute. She knew what Stands were, her education had covered that (albeit more briefly than Quirks, due to the rarity of Stands) but she'd never been able to _see _them before! And what, exactly, did the arrow have to do with it?

"I'm in a bit of a hurry, girl, so I'll make this quick. I can't risk _him _catching up to me. **Crazy Diamond**!"

The Stand responded to its master's call, leaping forward, fist extended. Yasuho managed to duck in time (barely), but the thing was so damn fast, she didn't see any way of winning without some sort of Stand of her own. After all, only a Stand can damage another Stand.

Resolving to focus on the physical villain, rather than his power, she pointed her hands again. This time, she focused her aim. If he could just reconstitute himself after his body was blasted apart, then she'd have to hit his head.

It felt like time was slowing down, **Crazy Diamond**'s fist was incoming and Yasuho hoped against hope that she could hit the villain before the stand did whatever it was going to do.

And then **Crazy Diamond** became distorted, and pieces started to break off of it. A few metres away from them, the sludge villain began screeching, steaming, and evaporating. Until finally, there was nothing left of him but some sort of white disk, his stand nowhere to be seen. Why did that disk seem so similar? Was it related to the one that she'd found with Josuke?

Yasuho didn't have time to try and contemplate what that disk could be, because something was wrong with _her _too. It felt like she was on fire underneath her skin; there was a burning sensation in her throat. Was this the same heat that had evaporated the villain? That must be the case. Clearly she was under attack. She clawed at her neck, to no avail, as the world spun around her and went dark yet again.

It didn't last for long, however. She soon awoke to a hand tapping her cheek.

She tried to open her eyes, but the at first everything was far too bright. Her head was pounding, and she felt like she was spinning- or maybe it was the world spinning around her.

"Are you okay? You were passed out on the sidewalk."

Blearily, she blinked a few times, letting her eyes adjust to the light. Standing above her was Higashikata Jobin.

And right next to him, clear as day, was **Speed King**.

* * *

The call had _not _been unexpected, truth be told. Kyo had always known where her brother's tendency for plotting and picking fights would lead him. Stand users attracted other Stand users, after all, and with Yoshikage's disposition, it had only been a matter of time.

That didn't mean she'd been prepared for it. Jotaro was still unresponsive, her mother was in the hospital, and all that was left of Yoshikage was a pallid facsimile of a person. She was alone.

She _liked_ being alone, true, but there was a difference between solitude and isolation. The former was something you sought yourself, and the latter was imposed. She felt like she was in a pit, sinking deeper, and try as she might to claw her way up the walls, the dirt just fell off into her hands.

She'd never been overly emotional, a trait she shared with her brothers, but now she wondered if maybe that had been a result of habit, rather than an aspect inherent to her personality. Perhaps she'd just kept compiling all of the various slights and miseries a person experiences over the natural course of their life, stuffing them into a reservoir of negativity. And now that was it. A straw had broken the camel's back. The boy from the old fable broke yet another hole in the dam, but this time he hadn't bothered to plug it with a finger.

This was just the latest in another string of miseries, she told herself, and not necessarily even the worst. She and Yoshikage had never been _that_ close, all things considered. She would grieve the loss of her mother so much more. She did, in fact, as the inevitability crested the horizon. But now, what would be left afterwards? It felt like each day just brought worse news. Monday it would cloud, Tuesday it would rain, and Wednesday the waves would reach massive heights and shatter her home and her peace, and she'd be left picking up splinters in the deluge.

She'd met him. Of course she had, to sate her curiosity if nothing else. It wasn't the same. There were none of the snide remarks, the witticisms, the cold, subtly amused glances.

He'd asked if he should take the name Kira Yoshikage. Some of her distaste must have shown on her face, because he'd shelved the thought quickly. They'd mostly just been silent, the whole time.

She wasn't really sure what he was doing, honestly. Maybe he was squatting in Yoshikage's apartment. Who knew where he got his food from.

She didn't ask. She just sank deeper into the pit.

* * *

The boat ride was, as expected, thoroughly fucking abysmal. Annasui and Hermes. It was always Annasui and Hermes. Why couldn't they be more like Weather, and keep their fucking mouths shut. At least Emporio was chill. Why was her kid friend so much less drama than her adult friends?

"Hey, JoJo! Look at all the water! This is great, can we stay out here for like, ever?"

Well, at least FF was having fun. Jolyne watched as the pseudo-girl took a running leap off the side of the ship, belly flopping with a loud smack. She had to wince at the sheer force.

"Hey, JoJo."

"Yes, Hermes?"

"We're best friends, right?"

"Yes, Hermes."

"So why do you get mad at my perfectly innocent antics, but not Foo's?

"Because Foo isn't a jaded snark slinging prison gremlin."

"Shit, you right." The four of them (Emporio and Weather were there too, just blessedly silent) watched FF swim around for a minute. It was nice.

"Hey, Jolyne!"

Why did God hate her?

"Yes, Annasui?"

"Why are you just letting those things swim around? Who knows what could happen!" She gave him a blank stare.

"Foo is plankton. She'll be fine."

"I'm not worried about _her_. What if the Japanese coast guard or whatever see her? Our stealth would be blown, and they'd try to arrest us."

"I mean… if that's what you're worried about, we should probably get away from the railing too. And below deck." Emporio said.

"Shit, you right."

"Yeah, now that you mention it… Hey, Foo! Sorry, but we're gonna need you to get back up here."

The girl in question had a bit of trouble getting back aboard, of course. Jolyne ended up having to give her a hand. Literally, she turned her arm to string, grasped FF, and reeled her back up the side.

Of course, once she was back aboard, Hermes began snickering under her breath. What was so- ah. Jolyne hadn't really noticed, but despite her arm reattaching itself, the two of them were still holding each other's hands. _Christ_, and she wonders why Jolyne gets frustrated by her.

"JoJo? What's wrong? Why'd I have to come back up?" Foo asked. Jolyne noticed she was bizarrely dry in spite of her swim. Must've been her water absorption at work.

"We're going to stay below deck. We're not too far out from our destination, and we can't risk being spotted by the authorities."

"Oooh, that makes sense." With that, FF let go and skipped off to the doorway.

They all piled in, and walked down the stairs 'til they were below deck.

"Well, since we're all together right now, this seems as good a time as any. I've been meaning to bring this up, actually."

"What's up, Emporio?"

"Well it's just… does anyone here actually speak Japanese?"

Everyone paused. Jolyne tentatively raised a hand.

"I mean, I'm part Japanese. So I got taught a little. I can read kana and maybe two hundred kanji, and also hold a conversation. Almost."

"You can read two hundred? That's so many!"

"Trust me Hermes, it really isn't."

Emporio brought out his ghost computer with his Stand.

"Yeah, according to this, you have to be able to read about four thousand to be considered literate. Regardless, the reason I'm bringing this up with everyone, and not just Jolyne, is this: we're all going to need at least a _basic_ understanding of the language if we're going to be in the country."

Annasui scoffed.

"I'm sorry to burst your bubble, kid, but that ship has sailed. We've already left the US, where we might've been able to take Japanese classes. Besides, even if we hadn't, we're wanted fugitives. It's not as though we can even sign up for classes in the first place, our faces are all over the news. We're gonna just have to leave this one to Jolyne."

"Yeah, Annasui has a point. Huh." Hermes paused, and screwed up her face. "That felt really weird to say."

"But you're all missing the obvious. I have a computer. We can simply go to a website for learning Japanese. It won't make us fluent, or even conversational, but we'll be able to learn enough to get by. I've actually been doing it since before we left, and I think I've got a decent handle on it."

"Ugh. Look, brat, I'm here to fight, not hold a bunch of conversations with whatever fucking randos we meet."

"Yeah, I have to agree with Annasui." Jolyne said.

"Really?" Emporio asked, shocked.

"In the sense that Annasui, specifically, should be exempt. We don't really want him being our people person."

Hermes turned to the man in question. "You gonna take that, dude?"

He shrugged. "I'm aware of how my behaviour comes off. I just don't care."

"If we're exempting people on the basis of their… sociability, may I also be excused?" Weather Report mumbled.

"Yeah, sure. So, that leaves Foo, Hermes, Emporio and me. Wait, hold on, you said we'd take lessons online?"

"Yeah."

"Do… do we have internet on this ship?"

"No, but my ghost computer has ghost internet."

"That sounds like bullshit, but I'll go with it. So like, just spitballing here, but it could theoretically go to _any_ website, not just, y'know, the language teaching ones."

"Uh, yeah? Jolyne, where are you going with this?"

"And like, realistically speaking, we'd have to be alone with the computer when we're studying. 'Cause I figure the others would just be a distraction."

"Well I actually thought we could do a study group, so that everyone can help each other out with the complicated parts, but yeah, self-study would probably also be involved. Why does that matter?"

"I'll tell you when you're older." Next to her Annasui and Hermes snickered.

"Why are they laughing? Hey, Jolyne, what's the joke?" Foo looked to her hopefully. Weather just shook his head.

"And you say I act classless." Hermes said with a grin.

"Hey, I'll have you know I build a lotta stress bein' group mom for this circus sideshow."

"JoJo." Hermes gave her a _look_. "You aren't the group mom. Emporio is."

"Shit, you right."

* * *

**Author's notes**

**Just a few brief points**

**1\. I'll be sort of skipping through scenes that happen the same as canon. In the sense that I'll provide enough info to make it clear that it happened, but I won't be giving a play by play for something we've already read/watched. (Like how I only had a few paragraphs for the Stand user in the apartment)**

**2\. Midoriya won't be in this. I like him, much more than most shounen protagonists, but I feel he'd overshadow the story and the rest of the cast, and would naturally push the storyline into resembling BNHA canon too much.**

**3\. Regarding Kyo. I feel like she's a little too 'meh' about losing her brother and her mother in canon. Also, her name is Kira in this because she hasn't gone undercover as the Higashikata's maid, and thus has no reason to take the name Nijimura. **


	3. Recommendations

Chapter 3 - Recommendations

A week had passed, and honestly? Joshu was still a _little_ bitter. Just a bit though. And don't tell anyone. He didn't want to lose the cool guy image he knew he left everyone with. But damn! That guy- Josuke, as he'd later found out- had totally been with Yasuho! And fucking naked too! It wasn't fair.

And _everyone _was acting weird. First Jobin comes home with some bag with vague 'work-related items' in it, and refuses to talk about it, and then Yasuho spends all her time avoiding him. Ugh, and his dad too. His arm was bent weird, and he'd just deflected any questions about it. Plus, he'd had been visiting that Josuke guy for some incomprehensible reason. Like, hello? Literally Joshu's rival in love, but fine, go ahead, whatever. Not like he cared.

But now he was excited! It was time for his entrance exam. He would be getting in on recommendations (because that's just how great he was) so his exam took place quite a bit before the one open to the general populace.

The exam was taking place in the Musutafu district of Tokyo of course, as it was specifically for UA, and that's where UA was. But Morioh was so far north you take a single bus to Hokkaido. Therefore, Joshu would be getting a ride with his father, and renting a hotel room for the night after the test, and before they returned. Once he (inevitably) passed and subsequently began attending UA, his father would start renting an apartment for him nearby the campus.

He finished packing his overnight bag (he wasn't sure if he wanted to take his All Might action figure or his Hawks one. In the end he decided on both.) He said goodbye to Daiya and Haato (Daiya at least responded.) He went out to the car. And promptly dropped his bag in shock.

"What the- what is _that_ guy doing here?!"

His father and that Josuke bastard both glanced at each other, before Norisuke turned and walked over to Joshu.

"He's been recommended for hero training, and he's decided to try it out. So, since we're all going to the same place, he'll be joining us on our trip."

"What do you mean he's been recommended? He's only been alive for, like, a week, right? Who the fuck recommended him? We don't need to take this guy with us."

"Joshu. This is not a matter for debate. Pick your bag up and get in the car, alright? We've been waiting for half an hour already, and we need to make it there in time for you to even _take_ the exam."

And so it was that he found himself in the back seat of his dad's car, doing his best to glare a hole through the back of Josuke's head. Why did that bastard get the front seat anyway?

"Dad, why are you playing this crap? Can't you change the station to something else?"

"No, Joshu."

"I kinda like it."

"See? Josuke likes it. I'm not changing it."

He already hated this.

By the time they reached UA, Joshu was about to go stir-crazy. He'd spent way too long in that car, and now that the ride was over and he could get out, he wasn't sure city air had ever smelt so good. For some reason his dad seemed relieved when they got out too. Joshu wasn't sure why, to be honest.

Josuke was looking around at the towers, with a dopey looking smile. He looked ridiculous. But Joshu had to admit he too was a little impressed by the view (though definitely _not _intimidated. Not one bit.)

After the two of them entered, and confirmed with the receptionist that they were on the list, they were given numbers evidently corresponding to the order they came in, as Joshu talked to her before Josuke, and got the number right behind his. Then they were sent to a room off to the side to wait and prepare for the exam. Judging by all the other kids milling about inside, it was the same room for all the examinees. Josuke walked around, looking like an idiot, checking out all the competition. Joshu did nothing of sort. Why would he, when he already knew he'd be the best?

The competition came up to Joshu though, in the form of some tall guy with a massive smile and crazy eyes.

"Hi, I'm Yoarashi Inasa! What's your name?" Fine. He wasn't really interested in these guys (although his eyes _had_ lingered on that girl with the ponytail) but he could at least make an impression. Alright, time to play it cool.

"Heh. Higashikata Joshu. You better remember that name, because you're gonna be hearing it a lot from now on." Nailed it.

"Cool! So what's your Quirk? Mine is whirlwind!"

"Uh, okay? I'm not really interested in giving away my secrets so easily, though. You'll all just have to find out."

"Ohhh, that makes sense! Well, great to meet you! Later!"

And _finally_ the weirdo was gone. Joshu smirked.

"Hi, I'm Yoarashi Inasa! What's your name?"

"Meeeee? I'm Kujo Josuke. Nice to meet you."

"Ooooh, can I call you JoJo? Or JoJoJo? What's your Quirk? Mine is whirlwind!"

"Of course you can! And I have two Quirks! I can shrink stuff and heal. Plus I've got a Stand."

"Wow! You're the coolest guy I've met here so far, JoJo!"

Joshu stopped smirking.

It seems, despite Norisuke's concerns, that they hadn't been too late. Only a couple minutes before the exam was scheduled to start some _new _weirdo walked. Some angry looking guy with white and red hair. Pfft, didn't he know how stupid that looked?

The resident loudmouth didn't get a chance to go up and greet him however, a fact Joshu's eardrums were thankful for, because the exam proctors came in soon after and began rounding everyone up.

They went over the rules, the exam itself, and what was expected of them. They'd be tested with a race, and would have to make a certain time in order to pass, much to Joshu's frustration. His powers- while super cool- just weren't suited for racing. Why couldn't he have his brother's Quirk…

They all lined up at the course, and, on the instructor's signal, took off. Literally, in the case of the loudmouth and the weird-haired kid, their Quirks propelling them across the course. The other kids weren't doing bad either- some kid with a gross mouth was turning the ground into some sort of mud and sprinting along it, while the ponytail girl had… somehow brought a bicycle? No fair, how come she got to bring a bike? Was there a form to fill out for that, or something?

Joshu was happy to see that Josuke, at least, was struggling just as much as he was. His Quirks were useless in this, and his Stand… well, Joshu honestly had no idea what that thing was doing. Was it blowing bubbles at the ground? Uh, yeah, brilliant plan moron.

He was halfway across the course (with only half a minute left to pass) when suddenly, Josuke _flew _by. Or glided, rather. Or slipped? For some reason, the ground where Josuke was had suddenly become incredibly slick or something, because he was absolutely zipping across.

Joshu was becoming frantic. There was no way he'd reach the finish line in time, and even worse, Josuke _would_! He began looking around, hoping for some sort of answer… and then he found it. Another examinee, a girl with wavy, dark green hair, also had yet to reach the end. But she wasn't rushing, just walking leisurely towards the goal.

And he soon saw why. She'd detached her arm from her body, and sent it floating to the end, and apparently, the judges had counted that as a success. If that was the case…

"**Nut King Call**!" The Stand appeared by his side, and made a bolt in his leg.

He uncoupled it.

His Stand wasn't like that girl's Quirk. It wasn't meant to be used on him, and when it was? It fucking _hurt_. But he grabbed his now severed leg anyway, and reeled back, tossing it past the finish line, just before Josuke reached it.

It spun in an arc, spraying blood all over the ground as it passed. Well, sucks to be the janitor.

And then time was called. Joshu hopped quickly over to his leg, stump bleeding all the while, and quickly reattached it with a new bolt. Oh, but hell, it wasn't really healed. The pain was still there, and blood was oozing out the line where the two parts had been separated. How could he fix this? Hmm…

"Hey, Josuke."

"Oh… hey, Higashikata."

"Woah, call me Joshu, alright? We're buddies, yeah? Look, I've been thinkin'. Maybe I've been a bit harsh on you recently. I mean, that thing you did with your Stand, that was so cool!"

"R-really? You too, that bit with leg was so-"

"Yeah, so that got me wondering. Are your other powers that cool? Like what can your Quirks do?

"Oh, well, I've got two! I can shrink stuff and heal."

"Woooow, that's great. What's the healing one do though, really? That sounds kinda vague..."

"Let me show you! Uh, but I have to be wounded..."

"Oh, don't worry about that! Here, try it on my leg, alright? Maybe I'll understand by feeling myself."

"That makes sense… here goes." Josuke took the leg in his hands. A golden glow began to surround him, before spreading down through his arms and into Joshu's leg. It… it was working! Joshu could feel his leg getting better!

And then it twisted oddly, his own foot coming up to kick him square in the face.

"Dammit!"

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean for that to happen- I guess I haven't practiced enough! I didn't know that could happen!"

"Fuck off Josuke! Dammit, why'd I even ask you."

"I'm really sorry, Joshu..."

"Save it. And don't get too familiar- call me by my last name!" He walked off, grumbling to himself. That _hurt_!

* * *

Josuke really did feel bad… he thought the glow Quirk would just heal! He was trying to get along with Joshu, since he'd started being nice all of a sudden. But instead he'd just made him mad…

His wallowing was cut short when the one of the proctors called their attention and started saying everyone's names, and giving them instructions on where to go next.

"Examinee number twenty-three, recommended by Endeavor. Please head to room 2-B." That one seemed to cause a stir, all of the other examinees suddenly looking at Examinee number twenty-three (who turned out to be the boy with the cool hair) and whispering amongst themselves. Josuke wasn't sure why, was room 2-B important or something?

The proctor ignored the chatter, and continued on, sending another to 2-C, then to 2-D, and so forth.

"Examinee number twenty-one, recommended by Speed King and Walking Heart. Please head to room 2-F." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Joshu begin to move, before stopping abruptly, and turning back, seemingly with the intention of listening to the next name being called.

"Examinee number twenty-two, recommended by King Nothin-"

"What?! What do you mean he got recommended by… what the hell?!"

"Examinee number twenty-one, please remain civil. The circumstances surrounding other contestants is not your concern. Please head to room 2-F."

Josuke raised his hand. "I don't understand. Who is King Nothing?"

"That… Examinee number twenty-two, you don't know the hero who recommended you?"

"I thought Mister Nori- uh, Higashikata had done that..."

"Yeah, you idiot! That's his hero name. Why is my dad the one who… you know what? Fine. I'll ask him when we leave."

"Please do. As I was saying, number twenty-two, please head to room 2-G."

Josuke still didn't really understand what the problem was, but he resolved to ask later, like Joshu. When he reached 2-G (after getting turned around a few times… apparently the 2 part meant the room was on the second floor) he opened the door to reveal… an animal?

Why was there a white mouse? Or, wait- was it a bear? And it was wearing a suit.

"Please, take a seat."

And it spoke! This was so cool!

When he had seated himself, the creature pulled out a manilla folder, and opened it to reveal several sheets. What titles he could read from across the desk suggested the majority of the papers were hospital records, birth certificates, and such.

"This is the interview portion of the exam. Now, let me begin by saying I am aware of your unique background. In fact, there was a bit of debate about whether to even accept your application whatsoever." The creature pulled out the birth certificates. "You see, while Kujo Josefumi was fifteen, and thus the proper age to become a first-year at UA, Kira Yoshikage was _eighteen_, and thus, not. The combination of the two would make you roughly sixteen, and thus a year too late to apply."

"I… so does that mean I won't get in?" Josuke wasn't sure that really bothered him, if he was being honest. He had only applied in the first place because Norisuke had wanted him to… and because, well, it would be something to do. He had no path forward, that he could see. He wanted to discover who had… created him, for lack of a better term. But he'd visited Kira Holly, and spoken with Kira Kyo… and neither of them had yielded any leads. On that front, he was stuck.

"Oh, your application was allowed, due to your obvious extenuating circumstances. And you passed the physical test. But whether you'll be allowed? That's what we're determining right now. So, Kujo Josuke. To start with, how did you pass that race?"

"I used my Stand. It took away the friction from the floor, so I could go quicker."

"How did the idea to do that come to you?"

"Huh... I guess I was just thinking it'd be nice if the race was easier, so then I thought, why not make it easier?"

"You didn't use your Quirks at all. Why is that?"

"Well, neither were really suited for a race. I couldn't shrink the course or heal myself across it." Although now that he mentioned the healing, he was reminded of the incident with Joshu's leg. He didn't really _understand_ his Quirks yet, apparently, so maybe he could've used them. Either way, he'd need more experience using them.

"I suppose that makes sense. Now then. What is your motivation? Why do you want to become a hero?"

"Ah. Well, I don't really know." When the bear-mouse remained quiet, Josuke continued, in an attempt to fill the silence. "But, well, I like Mister Norisuke. And he's a hero right? And if heroes help people, well, that's good isn't it?"

"So you're just floating, so to speak. Seeing where life takes you?"

"Well… I was almost literally born a week ago."

"I know. But try to see this from my perspective. How can I be certain you won't find some other calling? You haven't had nearly enough time to decide how you want to live your life. Why should I give you a space which could be better served going to a student with an actual desire to be a hero?"

"I… don't know, to be honest. Maybe you shouldn't."

"I see. Is there anything you _do_ want?"

Josuke blanks. Is there? He tried to think about this last week, his only one thus far. Had anything stood out? Combating an enemy Stand user, hanging out with Yasuho and Norisuke, and his sort-of relatives. Did these memories spark anything? Any urge, or desire? For fighting? Friendship? Family? Well… not necessarily _those_ things, but…

"Answers. I want answers. About… who I am. I mean, I know who I am, but, what about the people I'd been before? What were they like? How did _this_ happen? And my, or rather, Kira's mom. She's sick, and she isn't getting better. And Mister Norisuke said that heroes- well."

"Please, continue. What did he say?"

"...He said that heroes made a lot of money. And if they do then maybe I could get enough to help her. Her treatment is expensive, so..."

"I see. Well, I think I have enough information. Thank you for your time, Mister Kujo. The letter would come in the mail, but as you have no permanent address, consider this your acceptance."

Before, Josuke had thought he really didn't mind if he failed to gain entry to the hero course (and he still didn't, honestly), but in spite of that… He felt a little bit warmer inside, after hearing that he had.

* * *

**AN**

**1\. Josuke hasn't been adopted by Norisuke, and thus has taken the name Kujo instead of Higashikata**

**2\. I know Joshu's Stand didn't harm him in the most recent chapter of JoJolion, wherein he detached his tongue, but it did hurt other people when he took their limbs and stuff off. I just decided to go with the 'it causes damage' version.**


	4. White Diamond

Chapter 4 – White Diamond

It had been a fairly long time since Josefumi had almost drowned. Hell, he'd almost forgotten about the doctor who'd saved him, up until he met her son. He hadn't even known she'd been married to his father, a long time ago. It was kind of a bitter reality to acknowledge- the woman who _could_ have been his mother was not, and instead, he'd ended up with a pathetic mom who nearly let him die. Who just didn't fucking care.

Was it any wonder he wanted to help Doctor Holly Kira? For the time being, her treatment was being paid for by her son Jotaro (a brother Josefumi never even knew he had, due to his useless mom and never present father.) But that treatment wasn't _fixing _the problem, just delaying her downward spiral. Her issues couldn't be fixed by any medical technology, or even Quirks, and everyone knew it. It was a doomed endeavor.

Up until Josefumi and Yoshikage got that message from Jotaro. A Stand-wielding villain named Whitesnake with the ability to take and give Stands had been in contact with some other villain, one who'd been severely maimed at some point. Due to a mutal contact (whom Jotaro had slain a long time ago) the two had become good friends, and Whitesnake had promised to heal his extensive injuries. This meant, of course, that Whitesnake had, somewhere in his collection of Stands, something capable of some extreme form of bodily restoration.

Jotaro had gone to confront the villain at his lair in America, but lost the encounter. With their brother in a Stand induced coma, the task of handling Whitesnake had fallen to Josefumi and Yoshikage. They kept an eye on his movements, and tried giving aid (in the form of information and occasional funds) to his opponent, an anti-villain named Stone Free that Jotaro had some connection to.

But then Stone Free had sent _them _some damn important info. Whitesnake was coming to Japan. And he had a minion with a healing Stand in tow.

They knew where Jotaro's safe house in Morioh was, so it was simple to take the arrow he'd kept there. And from there?

"He has quite a bit of trust in this plan of his." Yoshikage always had some criticism.

"Oh ye of little faith. It'll work out great! Whitesnake's supposed to be a total hound for Stands, right? It's how he builds a power base. So, if he had the chance to create 'em and then harvest 'em, he'd leap at the opportunity!"

"Yes, I agree. That's not the part I have issue with. This is a major risk. If he wins, then he'll have the arrow. And then who could possibly stand in his way? He'd have an on demand army of Stand users. We should use the _rumour _of the arrow as bait, not the arrow itself."

"Absolutely not. If he realises he's being played his guard'll go right up! And boom, we miss our window. We _need _that Stand. It's gotta be all or nothing."

"Well, what do you think? You're the pro here."

Across the room, Higashikata Norisuke held the arrow in his hands, turning it this way and that, as if a new visual angle would grant him the insight necessary to choose the right side. Finally, he set it aside.

"Ultimately? I agree with Kujo. It _is_ a risk, and I don't want my grandson to live in a world shaped by this Whitesnake character. But I do want him to live, and for that, we need to be certain we get that healing Stand."

"Very well. I see I'm outvoted." Yoshikage heaved a dramatic sigh. "So, how do we get this to his attention?"

* * *

Enrico strode down the Morioh harbour, Crazy Diamond following behind him. All for One hadn't been pleased to hear of the diversion at first, but once Enrico explained what the arrow could do… well. His friend was a patient man. He had waited some time for Enrico to heal him before, and with the promise of such a powerful artefact? He could wait a little longer.

The museum flyers boasting about the newest exhibits had been in the Tokyo airport, right by the door leading outside, a picture of the arrow taking up a large portion of the page. And if that wasn't enough, the billboards on the streets had been more than noteworthy. Enrico was nearly certain it was the will of God that had led him to see this. But he hadn't survived this long, and overcome so many obstacles by being reckless. He didn't think there were any Stand using villains in Japan at the moment, other than the four Enrico had brought with him, but if there were he was almost certain they'd have seen the advertisements. He would need to be prepared, so as not to run afoul of any competitors.

He'd broken into the museum at night. It was rather easy- the lock had already been melted. Evidently, there _was _some other Stand using villain in Japan, and they had come for the arrow themself. The heat was clearly a result of either this rival villain's Quirk or Stand. Perhaps it was even a Standless adversary, who hoped to gain power through use of the arrow. Enrico couldn't truly know, and he didn't care to find out.

Rather than wander about looking for the arrow and thus finding himself in the centre of an ambush, he made a beeline for the administrator's office. A quick application of **Red Hot Chilli Pepper** let him access the computer without a password, and the logs confirmed it- while not in the museum proper, the arrow _was_ being shipped to the museum aboard a cargo ship. A donation, along with a number of other far less valuable trinkets, from some wealthy benefactor. Enrico didn't recognise the name of the donor.

Higashikata? If he were telling the truth, Japanese names tended to blur together in his mind. Even if he understood the language now, having loaned **Heaven's Door** to a subordinate, and making them write the knowledge into him. He hadn't stopped with Japanese, either. **Heaven's Door **was a stunningly useful Stand, once one considered all of the possible uses for it. Enrico now spoke Latin, Ancient Greek, Hebrew, Spanish, Modern Standard Arabic, Mandarin and French. When learning a language was as easy as writing a single phrase into yourself, how could you ever stop at just one? He'd briefly considered adding extensive knowledge of literature, history and sciences as well, but he'd shelved that idea. He considered himself a scholar- how could he ruin his intellectual pursuits by removing any need to study?

Well, regardless of whether he knew of this Higashikata or not, he now knew for certain the arrow really was within his reach. With the name of the ship in his possession, he logged out of and shut down the computer. It wouldn't do for his snooping to be discovered.

Enrico continued onto the ship. Without the boarding plank extended, he had to wait for Crazy Diamond to pull himself onboard with the use of his extended sludge arms, before the muddy henchman could extend a hand to pull his boss aboard. Once situated on the ship, Enrico had to pull a handkerchief from his pocket, and wipe his muddied hand.

**Highway Star** wasn't really the Stand _best _suited for this task, but it was the only tracking Stand he'd brought with him. Frankly, it was better served dealing with people, and thus largely ineffective at picking out the exact location of the arrow amongst the cargo. Perhaps somewhere in the starboard section? But there was a valuable side effect: with the sense of smell it granted him, he was quickly able to determine that he was in fact, being followed. He let them believe him unaware, however.

Sending his subordinate down to pull the cargo manifest from the captain's quarters, he walked (calmly, so as not to tip off his pursuers) down a particularly tall section. And right after he turned, and was thus out of sight, he hid himself in the shadow of a box, and waited.

* * *

It became apparent the jig was up when Whitesnake stopped moving. He might think he'd been slick, hiding behind that crate, but Higashikata's **King Nothing** was, frankly, a _fantastic_ tracking Stand, if not particularly useful in a combat situation. He'd known immediately when their quarry hid, and with a quick, pre-practiced hand motion, signalled to Yoshikage, and then pointed towards the box.

Josefumi couldn't help but grin when Killer Queen touched the villain's hiding place.

The explosion wasn't lethal of course- they weren't certain that sludge guy was the one with the healing Stand, and couldn't risk killing Whitesnake until they were sure. But damn if wasn't brutal. The villain was thrown backwards, the air knocked out of him in a gasp when he slammed into the crate behind him, his left arm severed. The broken bone peeked out from behind hanging strips of flesh as the blood gushed from the limb, slowly dyeing the priests shoes and pants red. He called his Stand in an instant, but it served him little when he found himself blinded by **Soft and Wet**, as Josefumi's bubbles took away his sight.

Higashikata walked over to the man and with his Quirk, affixed him to the crate he'd crashed into.

"Pardon the intrusion, Father Pucci, but I'm a pro hero, and I'm searching for something rather specific. I believe you can help me. Would you happen to know of a Stand with a particularly strong healing ability?"

Whitesnaked coughed up a bit of blood.

"I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage..."

"I'm afraid I do. The Stand, Father, if you'd be so kind."

"Ah, yes, that. It seems I have little choice. Well… since you've been so polite… There's a disk, in my front right pocket. That is the Stand you seek. But I'm rather disorientated; you can reach in there if you like."

Yoshikage and Josefumi glanced at one another. No one was _that _gullible, especially not a pro.

"Well, luckily enough, that pocket is right by the one arm you still have left. Therefore, if it isn't too much trouble, would you be so kind as to take the disc out and hand it to me?"

"If I must."

The proffered disc was held out blindly, and Higashikata was careful to keep an eye on the Stand **Whitesnake **(which, worryingly had yet to be dismissed) as he reached for the disc. This was, after all, the one time the villain would be able to determine Higashikata's location.

But just before he could touch the disc a light flashed, and the sludge villain who'd been following Whitesnake appeared, looking every bit as surprised as the rest of them. And then all hell broke loose. The sludge villain summoned his Stand, while **Whitesnake** punched the crate it's user had been stuck to, shattering it and letting said user take off running in the opposite direction, disc still in hand.

"Dammit! A warp Quirk _and _a Stand that steals Stands- how strong can one guy be? Kujo, get after him, Kira and I can deal with this guy. Get that disc!"

He didn't need to be told twice. Josefumi took off down the aisle, following the trail of blood leaking from Whitesnake's stump. Whenever he was about to make a turn, he used his Quirk on the corner crate- shrinking it in case the enemy had hidden behind it for an ambush.

It turned out to be for naught, however. The ambush didn't come from behind a corner- it came from behind.

* * *

"Don't let it hit you, we've no idea what it does!" Yoshikage snorted. Higashikata should change his hero name to Captain Obvious.

"Ah, but the reverse is true too! He'll be blindsided by the invincible power of your **King Nothing**!" Thankfully, Higashikata caught on.

"Ha, that's true. I'll finish him quickly, so that we can deal with his master." The sludge villain's eyes shifted to look at the pro hero. Honestly, this was too easy. Yoshikage slipped a paper clip out of his pocket, touching it with **Killer Queen**, and then throwing it directly at their distracted foe.

Despite the mud scattering everywhere, the enemy Stand remained. As Yoshikage expected- some aspect of the villain's Quirk let him survive at only a fraction of his full body.

"Quick, find something to trap him with, before he can counter! I'll keep him occupied!" Higashikata, for all that he could be annoying, was certainly quick to react. **King Nothing** materialised and began to smash apart numerous cargo crates, sending t-shirts and coffee cups flying through the battlefield.

The enemy Stand moved, throwing a punch straight for Yoshikage's head. Amateur- he'd be more likely to land a blow by attacking centre mass. Dodging the blow, Yoshikage pulled a paper clip from his pocket. Immediately, the Stand backed off, the villain not willing to repeat what happened with the first one. That was fine though- he just need his opponent to _think_ the paper clip was the weapon.

When it was tossed to the left, the Stand dodged to the right. Right next to the crate **Killer Queen **had touched while the villain had been recuperating. Again, they didn't know if this Stand was the healing one, so the explosion wasn't fatal. Just enough to stun.

"Here, catch!" Higashikata called, and Yoshikage grabbed the object flying towards him (a water bottle that had been emptied, presumably by Higashikata.) Well, when your opponent was liquid…

"Track JoJo, alright? We need to catch up and help him." He said, scooping the sludge villain into the bottle. "And as for _you_. Dismiss your Stand- I've turned this bottle into a bomb, and won't hesitate to kill you if you hinder our mission." A lie, but the villain had no way of knowing that.

Once the enemy Stand had disappeared, Yoshikage and Higashikata went running down the aisles, chasing after **King Nothing**'s trail of puzzle pieces. How away far had Josefumi gotten? They passed by tiny crates, evidence of his passing, and blood spatters (hopefully Whitesnake's) lining the ground.

They were halfway across the ship, when a flash of bright light filled the bottle he was holding. When it went away, the trapped villain had gone with it.

"Damn! Guess that means Kujo caught up with Whitesnake. Come on, we gotta get there now!" Yoshikage grimaced. He really didn't need this old guy telling him obvious things. But Higashikata continued. "That guy won't be stopped until his master is. Whitesnake'll just keep warping him whenever we catch him, and we can't knock him out because of his mutation type."

"Someone has to keep him occupied until the other two bring down Pucci, is what you're getting at."

"No, that wouldn't help. He'd just warp him back to his side again, and then the two fighting him would be at a disadvantage, waiting for the third to catch up. No, what I'm saying is this: we can't get bogged down fighting the sludge guy. That's a war of attrition we can't win. Instead, we need to collect Kujo and make a beeline for Whitesnake."

"How would we keep the other guy off us?"

Higashikata grinned. "Use of environment, of course."

It had been nearly a full minute, practically forever in a combat situation, before they finally caught up to Josefumi. As they'd expected, the sludge villain was there, his Stand punching wildly as though it were blind. On closer inspection, he realised that was the case- at some point Josefumi had sent **Soft and Wet**'s bubbles at his assailant, briefly taking away it's sight. But the villain must have take him by surprise. His legs had been fused together, and he was having to prop himself up against the row of boxes.

Yoshikage's paperclip struck the villain in the back and exploded, scattering mud everywhere. They ran straight by while he reconstituted himself, only stopping briefly as Higashikata used his Quirk to affix Josefumi to his back. Then they were off again, as **King Nothing** picked up a new trail.

"Wait, stop! We have to take down that sludge guy!"

"No can do, Kujo. We can't deal with him until we get his master squared away."

The villain had apparently recuperated, because he was starting to catch up to them. He crashed into crates on both sides, his eyes still unseeing as a result of Josefumi's attack. But even without knowing exactly where they were, he brought his Stand out in preparation. Yoshikage glanced behind him, and when their pursuer was at just the right location, he set of the explosion. The bottom row of crates in the wall next to broke into pieces, and the rest toppled down, entrapping the muddy mutant. It wouldn't take it _too _long to free itself, but without it's sight, it had no hope of catching up to them in time.

"We have to go back! You don't understand! His Sta-"

"No _you_ don't understand, JoJo. We don't have a method of defeating him right now. That reconstitution ability and Whitesnake's warp Quirk are too strong a pair. We have to disable Whitesnake before we fight the other villain."

"That'll be soon, at least. He's just around this corner." A white arm came through the side, in the space between the crates forming the wall, its fist aimed for Higashikata's centre mass. The pro hero didn't see it, but apparently Josefumi did, because** Soft and Wet **sent a fist of it's own careening into the outstretched arm.

With a snapping sound, the arm bent, and from around the corner they heard a pained cry. Yoshikage took the opportunity for what it was.

"Whitesnake! Surrender, you're surrounded and severely injured. We just want the healing Stand. Give it to us and we'll leave."

"Fine. Fine, dammit. Hold on, I'm coming out." The cornered priest stepped out from behind the boxes. The stump constituting the remnants of his severed arm had been tied with some rope- which had certainly been pilfered from the cargo- in order to stop the bleeding. His other arm was now bent awkwardly. Yoshikage thought he see a bit of broken of bone peeking out, red from the blood covering it. The white disk they were after was clutched awkwardly in the one (broken) arm he still had. His eyes were fixed, apparently Josefumi's attack had worn off at some point. "Here… if I give this to you, can you heal me, and let me go? I'll leave you to your business, just fix me and go away."

"It's a deal. Hand me the Stand." Yoshikage stepped forward, one arm reaching out for the disk, the other holding his last paperclip. He couldn't afford to take his attention of Whitesnake for one second. He just _knew_ the priest would try something again.

But to his surprise, he let the disk go with no trickery whatsoever. Yoshikage paused, waiting for a flash of light to indicate the other villain's arrival. Nothing came.

"We're still good, Kira. But use the disk, confirm that it's the right Stand." Higashikata's voice came from behind. Yoshikage didn't look back- he couldn't risk taking his eyes off of the priest for a second.

But he inserted the disk. And instantly his alarms went off, as the priest gave a smug smile.

"I'm glad the two of you were so focused on me. If either of you had looked back, you'd have realised why your compatriot was so quiet." From behind him Yoshikage heard Higashikata's surprised shouts.

"He- there's a disk coming out of his head! He's completely unconscious!"

The Stand **Whitesnake **held up another disk. "These are that boy's memories. When he broke my arm, I was able to touch him, and then take this disk from him."

"Kira, you need to take him down- right now! Why aren't you moving?"

Yoshikage's limbs wouldn't respond, and he could feel something moving on his back. **Whitesnake **touched his head, and then took a disk from him.

* * *

Norisuke watched, horrified, as a small humanoid Stand appeared on Kira's back, and started to peel it open.

Whitesnake held the disk he'd taken from Kira aloft, examining it.

"This Stand of yours seems impressive- that explosion when we first met could have killed me. There's no sense in letting that power go to waste. **Cheap Trick**, jump to that hero who saw his back." So, that's how the Stand functioned? Don't let anyone see your back. Well, that's was straightforward, but impossible.

Norisuke gritted his teeth as he felt something squirming on his back, followed by wet breath on his neck. There was the sound of sloshing and squishing somewhere behind him. It was a hopeless situation. Luckily, he had a plan.

"I think I can guess what you're thinking right now. With that boy's body stuck to your back, no one will be able to see it, and thus **Cheap Trick **won't activate. Is that about it? But how long can you hold him there? You certainly won't be able to walk around like that in public."

"Actually, that's not what I was thinking at all." He spun around, and let go of his Quirk, dropping Josefumi from his back. He reached a hand around to smack the disk still sticking halfway out of Josefumi's head back inside, bringing some light back into his eyes. And then he felt tearing at his back, as Pucci laughed behind him.

"So, you thought you'd transfer that Stand to me? What a noble sacrifice. But observe what a foolish idea that was." **Whitesnake** touched it's user's forehead, and pulled a disk out. "Now, **Cheap Trick **has been rendered inert, but it's still far too late for you."

Norisuke couldn't feel his body anymore- the Stand's attack had broken his spine.

"That's still wrong! I'm not attacking you, Whitesnake- I'm attacking your minion!" Indeed, the sloshing sound he'd heard coming up behind had been the sludge villain. It had finally caught up to them, it's sight having been restored when Kujo's Stand had been brought of his body.

Hearing Norisuke's proclamation, it summoned it's Stand, and launched a fist straight towards him.

"No, stop! He's bluffing, don't hit him!" Whitesnake's warning came too late. The Stand's attack tore through Norisuke's chest, and smashed through his back as well.

"I figured out what Kujo was trying to tell us. The reason his legs had been fused during that fight with your minion… this guy is the one with the healing Stand. Or rather, it's ability is some form of extreme matter reformation, activated upon landing a blow." And with that, Norisuke stood up. His torso felt weird, like his organs were in different positions. Reaching down a hand, he felt a steady heartbeat, thumping away where his stomach had been before. Well, that was fine. His internals didn't need to be in the right place for him to win.

He glanced at Kujo. With his Stand disk back in him, he seemed healthier. But without any memories, he'd be useless in this fight. He wouldn't even know who his enemy was. But Norisuke leaned down and whispered in his ear regardless.

"Hey, don't listen to him!" Pucci shouted. "Whatever he's telling you, it isn't true. Can't you see how I'm injured? He's a madman, going around attacking people. Get away from him or he'll hurt you!"

Kujo stood, in a sense- one hand on the ground to support his fused legs- and began to back away from Norisuke, towards Pucci. The sludge villain seemed take that a cue to rectify the mistake he'd made, launching an attack towards Norisuke's head. **King Nothing **raised a hand to take the blow, and the enemy's ability took effect, warping his arm. But that was fine too. It was still usable.

The mutant's Stand was lightning fast, but Norisuke was a pro for a reason, and he'd already used the first attack as an opportunity to close distance. He ran straight for the villain, bearing down with his shoulder and crashing straight into him. His opponent flowed around him, binding his arms with mud.

"Was that seriously how you thought you'd fight me? Oh man, that's rich! Haven't you figured out how my Quirk works by now?"

"Yes, I have." Norisuke responded, using his own Quirk to stick the mutant to himself. "**King Nothing**!"

The Stand reached out, grabbing Norisuke's leg, and pulling him and the villain across the floor. It dragged them to the side, and with a heave, tossed them both overboard. As they hit the water, Norisuke let go of his Quirk. The villain had already loosened it's grip on him in an attempt to free itself, and he used this chance to swim back up to the side of the ship.

* * *

Yoshikage was shocked. This was… this was an existential crisis if ever he'd heard of one.

Whitesnake's attention had been drawn by Higashikata's antics, and he'd used the opportunity to do as the man instructed. He'd taken the disc from… from his own corpse, and put it inside his, or rather, Josefumi's head.

He had to fight. He knew that, but it was so hard to move past his own death, and strange new existence. What did he do? Did he take Josefumi's memory disk from Whitesnake and put it in his head? Would that merge the two of them? What did he do with his body?

No. He needed to calm down. Compartmentalise, and deal with this later. With a quick application of Josefumi's Quirk, he shrunk his corpse and stuffed it in his pocket. That healing Stand. If he could use it to fix his body, and then put his own Stand and memories back into it, he'd be able to survive. That's it. He had a path forward, all he needed to do now was win.

He called forth **Soft and Wet**.

It was a strange feeling, using another person's Stand. He felt the familiar tug at his soul, but instead of the feeling of heat deep in his bones that came with **Killer Queen**, he felt something more akin to a sort of slickness, like a rope covered in oil, slipping around in his gut.

As Higashikata clambered back up the side of the boat (through the use of his sticking Quirk, no doubt) Yoshikage crawled behind Pucci. **Soft and Wet**'s fist crashed into his side, lifting and throwing him straight into the railing, and knocking the breath right out of him.

Higashikata finally made it back onboard, and stuck Whitesnake to the railing.

"Rifle through his pockets, old man. Get my Stand and JoJo's memories back." With that, Yoshikage pulled himself onto the railing, looking down at the sludge villain.

"You going after the healing Stand?"

"Yeah. I'll be back." In his own body.

He crashed into the water, immediately sending **Soft and Wet**'s bubbles to blind the mutant. He didn't really have a way to imprison the villain, but he didn't think he needed one any more. When he'd been fighting Whitesnake, he'd come to a realisation. He'd already been dying when his disk had been taken, which means the disk ability wasn't contingent on the victim still being alive. The Stand that had been given to the sludge villain, it was borrowed. If the villain were to die, the disk would come straight out.

So, all he had to do was kill this guy. In terms of Quirks, his opponent had a clear upper hand on land. But in this ocean, he'd begun to diffuse. Blinded, and losing control of his body, the mutant was able to offer barely any resistance as Yoshikage grabbed his head and pulled him along towards the shore. His fused legs acted almost like a tail, making him swim even quicker through the ocean water.

They soon reached dry land. Yoshikage crawled up onto the shore, and then to the right, into the forest, transferring his hold on the mutant to **Soft and Wet**'s hands. At some point his foe had stopped struggling. It'd probably lost consciousness after losing so much of it's body. But for now, Yoshikage need a plan to kill it.

Enough of the villain was near solid that he could grab him. He'd been able to fit the mutant into a bottle earlier, but it wouldn't be able to _live_ as a pure liquid organism. It likely had some sort of vaguely gelatinous skull, housing a similarly malleable brain. It could contort and conform to new shapes, but it wouldn't be able to withstand direct blunt force.

This meant it could be killed if he were to smash its head in with a rock. He brought his corpse out of his pocket and laid it down, returning it to normal size, and began rooting through the forest.

Focused as he was, he was totally unprepared for the punch that came slamming into his side. He felt his ribs rearrange themselves as he looked back. The mutant's Stand was out. Of course. The unconsciousness was a ploy. Obvious in retrospect.

Yoshikage crawled, trying to get away from the Stand, and calling **Soft and Wet **to him, in order to defend. The enemy, still blinded, was lashing out wildly, warping trees and boulders into unnatural shapes with each misdirected blow.

But this could be useful, anyway. He made it to his body, and lifted it with **Soft and Wet**'s hands, before tossing it loudly against a tree. The enemy Stand was on it in a minute, and the fatal wound on the corpse's back was healed by the punch. The lure was successful, in two ways. Now the Stand's back was vulnerable, as he crept up behind it.

But his attack was sidestepped, and he tripped as he overextended himself, so that he fell on top of his body.

"I had to let you think you had me cornered to draw you out… I've come so close to losing this fight already." The mutant said. "I hadn't really considered it before, you know? Just as a vague, distant event that wouldn't really ever come. But I've come so _close_, in these past few minutes… And I realised I'm fucking terrified of dying."

It blindly sent an attack flurry into him, fists crashing at random into Kujo's body and his own. With each strike, he felt himself twisting, and merging with his corpse. As he died, two disks came out.

* * *

**AN**

**1\. I went with Part 4 Killer Queen over Part 8's, which blows exploding bubbles, because Part 8 Josuke's Soft and Wet is a mixture of Josefumi's S&W and Kira's Killer Queen, but that's not how it works in this story. Plus, it makes Killer Queen fit in with the theme of the Stands Pucci has amassed in this fic, specifically that they all come from Part 4**

**2\. I realise that in canon, Whitesnake's disks don't come out of an affected target when they die, but they do in this, because the plot just needs it to be that way**


	5. Learning to Stand

Chapter 5 – Learning to Stand

"I think I get most of it..."

"If you're still confused, I'm perfectly willing to answer your questions. Just ask."

The two of them were sitting in the hotel room. Josuke had resolved to ask Norisuke _why_ exactly he'd been recommended, and why the man had taken such an interest in him. To his surprise, the hero had answered in detail, though not before sending Joshu out on some time-wasting errands.

"Well, okay, first: you lured him out with the arrow, right? The one you said can grant Stands? But where did it go afterwards, do you still have it?"

"No. We knew Whitesnake was a cautious man- he'd outwitted Star Platinum, the number three hero in the world after all. We had to actually donate it to the museum in order to sell the ruse, and it really _was_ on the ship." Norisuke paused, sighing and bringing up a hand to rub at his temple. It was a gesture Josuke had become familiar with as he listened to the story. "But when I went to take it back, it was already gone. I know that Pucci wasn't in a position to take it at any point, so his henchman must've doubled back and grabbed it. He'd been sent to check the shipping manifest, and thus would have know where to look."

"Okay, and second: Why did you want the healing Stand? You said something about your grandson, but didn't really elaborate."

"Tsurugi. My eldest is Jobin, and his son is Tsurugi. The Higashikata family has an unusual affliction, you see. It is fatal, barring the intervention of a particularly powerful Stand. The eldest son is always afflicted, once they reach the age of ten or eleven. Tsurugi is nine."

"Why are you both you and Jobin alive, then?"

"We were saved. By our respective mothers. But what they did cannot be replicated."

"You're sure?"

"Yes. Just... don't worry about it, alright?"

"Alright. And where is Whitesnake now?"

"Likely with the villain he came to Japan to meet with. I hadn't anticipated Kira's loss, so when the sludge villain was teleported back to Pucci's side, I was overwhelmed, sad to say. I was forced to make a tactical retreat."

"What about Kira's Stand, and my- or uh, Josefumi's memories? Were you able to recover them?"

"No. I frisked Whitesnake's pockets while he was trapped, but they weren't there. I'm not sure _where _they went. He may have inserted them into himself, in order to spite me. I really can't be certain."

"Okay. I think I understand. So... is this why you want me to be a hero? And why not include your children in this? Aren't they capable Stand users? You'd be able to win so much more easily."

"Whitesnake may masquerade as a man of the cloth, or perhaps he's even fooled himself into believing his God would approve of his transgressions. But make no mistake, the man is a vicious murderer. How could I possibly involve my children?" Norisuke paused, letting Josuke take a moment to digest the implication. "And yes. This is why I recommended you for the hero course. If you can bring yourself back up to a level capable of combatting Whitesnake, we can try again. Josuke, we could cure Holly Kira in an instant. We could take your memories back.

"Knowing the truth, what do you say?" It didn't take Josuke long to decide.

"Alright. I'm with you. What will we do?"

"We're at an advantage, knowing Whitesnake's Quirk and his henchman's capabilities. Also, he isn't expecting you. But he has certainly gone to ground by now. He's likely reconnected with the villain he came to Japan to meet with in the first place. Ultimately, there's nothing you can do but train yourself. Prepare for the coming battle."

"What about you?"

"In the mean time, I'll be putting out feelers, and shaking down the villains I come across for any information. Right now, we just need to be patient."

Josuke thought that was easier said than done, but he understood.

* * *

Yasuho experiments had yielded a perfect score. She didn't have to check maps on her phone, she just followed** Paisley Park**. She didn't have to search for the exact item she wanted on a store's website, **Paisley Park** led her straight to it.

And when the prompt to choose between a dog and bucket had come up on her phone, she'd selected 'dog'. And the man who tried to corner her in an alley was swiftly chased off by some massive mutt which had broken off it's owner's leash.

She had to admit, Stands were totally awesome.

In fact, it had started her mind down a path it hadn't followed for almost a year now. Of course, she had thought about it before- what kid didn't want to be a hero? She'd watched all the videos of the top pros: the fashionable and dashing Best Jeanist, the dark and mysterious Edgeshot, the cold and stoic Endeavor. And like every kid, she'd marvelled at All Might, defeating villains with a smile wider than any river.

As she'd grown, she began to believe there was no dazzling heroics to be found in her future. Sure, her Quirk was strong enough, and fairly suited for combat, but could it measure up to the competition? Did she even want to spend all the effort that would be necessary for hero work? Did she have the requisite discipline?

She had doubted, and as the time to apply for a hero course drew nearer, had given up entirely, resigned to find some job as a… well, she wasn't sure yet, but there had to be _something_.

Now though, she had this Stand! Sure, it wasn't dangerous in the classical sense, but her Quirk already had that covered. Now she had the versatility, the supporting abilities that would almost certainly propel her even further than the other would-be heroes that would serve as her classmates.

It had to be destiny, that she had come to possess this ability, right? Things like that couldn't happen as a result of chance. She felt a calling now, one that hadn't been there before. She _had _to fulfil that childish dream, for some purpose she had yet to become aware of.

She knew Joshu would be applying to UA, and if she was being honest, that had put her off of it for a bit. She didn't want to deal with _that_ every day. But now, she had a new friend in Josuke, and, perhaps this was a rather flighty reason, but she didn't want to have to part with him so soon.

But if she wanted to pass the entrance exam, she'd have to keep training. Not **Paisley Park**, Josuke had been right when he said using your Stand was nearly innate. But the Quirk she'd been neglecting, and the body she'd let grow soft.

She set off on another jog, content to let her Stand lead her yet again.

* * *

"I must say, I am disappointed in you. I expected better."

"No apology I could make would be sufficient. Please, allow me to rectify my mistakes."

Enrico knew All For One wasn't looking at him in the traditional sense. Even if he couldn't see the man's face for all the darkness- the master villain had neglected to turn on a light for Enrico, possibly to show his displeasure- he knew the man to be maimed and blind. But he swore he could still feel his eyes sweeping him from head to toe.

"How did you become separated from your ally?"

"I left our temporary safehouse to procure necessities- food and water, as well as toiletries. Upon my return, the lock had been melted, and Crazy Diamond was nowhere to be found. I assume this to be the work of an opposing villain."

"Yes, if it were a hero, then your employee's arrest would have been publicised."

"Astute, but there is more to my assumption. When I had initially checked the museum for the arrow, the locks had been melted in much the same manner. I expect this would-be competitor is seeking to amass power through a similar method as us."

"I see. How would you begin the search for this individual?"

"They may not have been based in Morioh. It's likely they were simply following the museum's advertisements, the same as I was. I'll look for the hero that survived our fight on the ship. Stand users tend to attract other Stand users, and he's almost certainly as interested in this case as we are, so he may have a lead of his own. Meanwhile, I have something for you, something you'll want."

"What I _want_ is **Crazy Diamond** in the hands of an ally, so that I may see the world again, so that I may walk and breathe and digest my foods uninhibited. I want that arrow, so that I may unlock a Stand of my own, and breed such abilities amongst my followers. Is your gift comparable to these things you have already promised, Enrico?"

"It is a Stand. A powerful one, suited for one such as yourself. All that is required is that you insert this disk into your head."

"Hmm. Perhaps I was hasty to condemn you. What is its name? And what can it do?"

"It is named **Killer Queen**. And as for its abilities..."

* * *

Without a home of his own, it didn't come as much of surprise that Josuke had taken up a brief residence in Kira Yoshikage's apartment. Brief because he'd soon have to move to be closer to UA. There was no way he'd be able to commute from Morioh.

That being said, Yasuho simply didn't like being in the place. It was almost certainly just a holdover from the last time she'd been there, but it gave her the creeps. She wasn't sure how Josuke could stomach it. It'd been near a month since he'd moved into the place, but whenever they met up, she'd still have it be somewhere else. A cafe, or clothes shopping, or some other such.

They were on one such outing now, at a small thrift shop selling unusual odds and ends. But today was different. She'd decided she was going to tell him about **Paisley Park**, as well as her decision, today. At some point. Just not now.

"Look, Josuke! Isn't this clock cute?" The clock in question was set in the stomach of a plastic tuxedo cat, and it seemed to have speakers on it for some reason. Without batteries, there was no way of knowing what sound it made, but she had to assume it meowed.

"I think I like this one more." He said, picking up a melted clock, an obvious reference to the famous Dali painting.

"Eh, it's bent, so you can't put it on a wall. You'd have to let it hang off a counter, and I feel like it might fall. Plus, the numbers are all in weird places, it just doesn't seem practical to me."

"Oooh, you're right. In that case, I'll get the cat one."

In addition to the clock, he also got a plastic stool shaped like a mushroom, while she only a purchased a small hairclip. The cashier smiled at them as she checked them out.

"Oh, the two of you are so precious, even if you seem a little young to be living together..."

"No that's not- we just- we're getting him things for his apartment! You've totally got the wrong idea!" The cashier hmmed, clearly disbelieving, but she let it drop.

That was awkward, but maybe today was just a day for awkward things. Yasuho steeled herself as they were going through the door. Now or never.

"You're going to UA, right?"

"Yeah, I talked about it before, remember?"

"I remember, I was just bringing it up. Because… I've been thinking of doing it too."

"You are? But, I think the exams have already been done. I did them a month ago."

"Well, yeah, the recommendation exams are finished. But the _general_ exams are next week. I've already put my application in."

"Oh. That's great, maybe we'll be classmates! It'd be nice to have someone I know there."

Yasuho smiled and responded in kind, and then they were quiet for a moment, just walking along.

"What made you decide to do that?" And here it was.

"Well… maybe it'd be easier to show you. Mind sitting down with me?"

They made their way over to park bench. She wasn't delaying, definitely not, she just needed to rest her feet.

"So… you know how I don't have a Stand?"

"Yeah?"

She summoned **Paisley Park**. With a shout, Josuke jumped up, tripped on his feet, and immediately fell forward.

"Are you okay?!"

"Yeah, just surprised."

"Oh, okay, cool. Need a moment?"

"No, I'm good. More importantly, when did you get a Stand? What does it do? Why is it so pink? Is it pink because your hair is pink?"

"Uh, maybe? And… this is gonna sound weird, but I got stabbed."

"You- are you okay?"

"Yeah, it healed like, super quick. But that's where my Stand came from."

"That's weird, what kind of- huh. Hey, Yasuho." Josuke tone changed suddenly, losing the tinge of confusion. "Was it an arrow?"

"I… how did you know that?"

"Did you see the person wielding it? Where'd they go?"

"That's the thing- I'm not sure. He just started screaming, and then he evaporated- he was made of sludge, you see- and a disk came out of him. But then I passed out too. I can't be totally sure, but with how it happened, it seems likely it was Stand attack. One that targeted both of us."


	6. General Exam

Chapter 6 – General Exam

The academic examination had been fairly straightforward, unsurprisingly. Even if you weren't the brightest, strength alone could certainly take you far in a career as a hero. So Kyo expected that the practicals would be the most taxing portion of the exams.

Luckily, she had an easy path to victory. Her Stand came in two parts: A motorcycle which brought icy wind in its wake, and humanoid rider, which tracked it's targets based on a mechanic which involved the target opening things. Taken as a whole, the Stand was very capable at hunting down opponents, but wouldn't necessarily aid her in a straight fight, as its behaviour was automatic. Therefore, she had to summon only the motorcycle portion and drive it herself.

Well, not _drive_, in the traditional sense. While Stands could affect the world around them, the reverse wasn't true. She couldn't grab the her Stand's handles, and thereby steer it like a true motorcycle, but she could control the Stand's movement mentally. Thereby, all she had to do was get on top of the motorcycle. The Stand would do the work and lift her up and move her around.

She'd already mounted up before the signal to start went out, and drove straight into the false city, leaving her competition in the dust. Or ice, as the case may be. She took some humour in their shocked expressions. Since they couldn't see Stands, from their perspective, she must be straddling air and flying around.

Kyo had a bit more of a tough time handling the various robots than she thought she would. Her ice wasn't really strong enough to instantly disable, so she had to keep driving around them in circles until they finally froze. It was made even worse by how unhelpful her Quirk was in this scenario- so long as she kept her breathing right, she could manipulate flesh. At least to a degree. Very useful, until you had to fight machines.

Ultimately, her biggest advantage was her mobility. Even though all of the other students had managed to free themselves from her ice in a few seconds, none were able to keep pace with her through the streets. It didn't seem like this examination group had any speed Quirks between them.

What was her current score? Fifty-three? Fifty-five? Yeah, something like that. It wasn't easy to keep track in the middle of a fight. Whatever. She'd just keep going for now, and figure it out later.

She chased down another two-pointer, and drove around it. Go around it enough times and **Born This Way** would eventually freeze it solid. But as she passed by the back of the robot, its tail swung horizontally towards her, catching her in the gut and throwing her from her Stand. It hurt like hell, but a quick application of her Quirk brought her back up to full strength, just in time for her dodge the next swipe of the mechanical tail.

Kyo wanted to summon her Stand, but the robot was locked onto her, and she couldn't get a free moment for all the ducking and rolling. If she could just find an opportunity, she could create space and bring her Stand back out.

Suddenly, a large black bird crashed into the robot, tearing its neck to pieces and severing the head. Her eyes followed what must have been a Stand as its body lead to a boy with… a bird head. Who was now looking at her.

Did he expect a 'thank you'?

"I had that under control."

"Yes, I could see that. Your flailing was truly a terrifying technique."

"Do you think you're funn-"

"Hey, can you toss me that head?" Some girl with pink hair had appeared, and apparently thought this was a cooperative event. Much to Kyo's amusement, the bird brain obliged, picking up the robot's severed head and throwing it to the girl.

"Thanks! Oh, wait, hold on." After catching the head, the girl turned to look at Kyo. She couldn't imagine this would be interesting. "I know you- you're the girl with the motorcycle Stand from the beginning!"

Well. Perhaps Kyo had been hasty. This girl could see **Born This Way**? If that's the case, then she too must-

"The two of you have Stands? That's quite a rarity."

"Um… don't you? Isn't that what that black thing is?" The pink girl echoed Kyo's own thoughts.

"No. This is simply my Quirk. Wait, do… do Stands look like my Dark Shadow?"

"Uh, yeah, kinda? Just less… connected to the user. And they have more definition to them- your, uh..."

"Dark Shadow."

"Yeah that. He looks less… I dunno how to phrase it, really."

"It appears far more generic. Most Stands have details on them, aesthetic additions."

"But, yours just looks like a motorcycle."

"Ugh. Is that what you think? There's more to it than- actually, never mind. We're wasting time right now."

She called forth **Born This Way** and settled back onto it, determined to make up for lost time.

"I now know there is a motorcycle underneath her, but I must say, that still looks _quite _bizarre."

She was going to strangle that feathery little shit. Kyo set off across the testing grounds again, determined to increase her score. But as she swept the area, she became increasingly flustered. Nearly all of the robots she came across were already destroyed. She had gotten an advantage in the beginning because of her mobility, but now that advantage was gone, and all of the other contestants had joined the fighting. There weren't many more points to try and rack up.

A loud groan shook the testing ground, and Kyo nearly lost control of her motorcycle. She had to slow her pace drastically to avoid a crash. A large shadow fell over her, to her surprise. Was there a target behind her? She grinned, but then the shadow kept going, covering the whole street, and all of the buildings. Kyo checked behind her, and nearly panicked. The zero-pointer Present Mic had briefly mentioned, it was... _massive_! And it was almost right behind her, to boot.

She couldn't take that thing down, and even if she did it wouldn't net her any points. She just turned back around and kept driving. Rubble started flying, impacting with the buildings to her side. Evidently the giant robot had started to destroy objects or something. Seemed a bit reckless for an exam, but that wasn't really Kyo's problem. Or at least, it wasn't until she saw a familiar bird headed boy, flat on his ass, staring wide eyed at the zero-pointer.

Whatever. She didn't care, she disn't care, she didn't... ugh. She slowed herself, until she came to a stop right next the other student, who stared up at her in surprise. She noted he had started to shiver, being right beside her Stand. Tough. If he had just run away to begin with, he wouldn't have be cold right now.

"How are you not terrified with that thing so close?"

"Shut up. I'm not here to talk. Let's go." She said, extending a hand out to him. He pulled himself up on the motorcycle, arms gripping her midsection tightly.

"Your hands stay on the stomach or you get thrown off at sixty kilometres an hour." She started back, driving down the road in a serpentine pattern just in case the robot sent any more rubble flying.

"This- this is amazing! It's like we're flying!" Said her passenger. "We've become one with the wind!"

"Hush already, I'm trying to concentrate." Kyo said, though she couldn't quite help the small smile that came over her. At least he wouldn't see it from back there.

* * *

Yasuho thought the exam had gone rather well, up until the end. Of course, everyone else had _also_ been running from that giant robot, so she didn't think that would cause her to fail. Or who knows, maybe it was only the applicants in her exam group, and all the others had done _way_ better, and she was going to fail horribly and her mom would get to say 'told you so' and… okay, deep breaths.

That's probably _not_ what was going to happen. But, honestly, she couldn't help the nervousness.

She'd gotten a decent amount of points, she felt. Her strategy had been good, too! Put Paisley Park into some robot heads, let it lead her to other targets, and blast 'em with her Quirk. She needed the directions too, what with that mean girl on the motorcycle getting ahead of the group and taking down so many targets.

When the letter finally came in the mail, she almost couldn't open it. She'd caught the look from her mom too. That little smirk, and the look in her eyes that clearly said she didn't think Yasuho would getting good news, and couldn't wait to gloat. Yasuho wasn't sure she thought the woman was wrong, either. UA was the most prestigious school in Japan, so it didn't seem likely that some kid from a working class family in Morioh would be getting in.

Finally, after trying to work up her nerve, Yasuho… sort of just gave up on _being _nervous. She decided that she didn't care right now if it was or wasn't a rejection. She'd have to care later. For the moment, she only really needed to _know_. Maybe that's what it meant to not give a fuck?

A disk fell out of the letter, though not the kind she'd been seeing recently. The hologram disk turned itself on automatically, and… _All Might_? What was he doing on the screen?

"Greetings, young Hirose! I am here, in a hologram! I know you must be wondering why the number one hero is sending you your examination results! That is because starting next semester, I will be working as a member of the UA faculty. That means I will be one of your teacher! Aren't you excited? Anyways, onto your results.

"Your scores in the academic exam were passing, as you likely already knew. Most people tend to worry a bit more over their practical scores. During the practical, you scored thirty-four villain points. If we were only grading based on that number, you would have already passed, as only fifteen applicants got more villain points, and we'll be accepting thirty-three students to the hero course based on this exam. However, there was another metric, unknown to you examinees."

All Might continued, explaining rescue points, and at the end a small scoreboard of the top ten examinees appeared.

At number nine on the list was the name Hirose Yasuho, with thirty-four villain points and twenty-four rescue points.

She couldn't keep back the grin on her face. She'd always _thought_ about being a hero, but it was never anything more than an idle fantasy. And now it was happening.

She wanted to call up Josuke, and tell him the good news, but first…

"Hey, mom? Can I talk to you for a moment?"

She went out to the living room, and sat down, opposite her mother, careful to keep her expression from giving her away.

"Oh, honey. Is everything okay? You know I'm here for you." False sincerity. A long time ago, Yasuho might've thought it earnest. An opportunity to talk freely; the sign of a sympathetic ear. She knew better, by now.

Yasuho knew her mother loved her. It's just that the woman had her flaws. Being out all night with strange men and leaving her daughter to her own devices was the most common problem, but occasionally her mom would be self righteous. Especially if Yasuho did something her mom didn't like, and later regretted it. 'You should have listened to me' or 'haven't you learned by now? I know what's best.'

Frankly, Yasuho felt was sick of it. It was past time her mom got a taste of her own medicine.

"Oh, it's nothing… it's just, well..."

"Yes, dear?"

Yasuho grinned.

"I told you so."

* * *

"Daaaaad! Why is this guy here, _again_?"

Norisuke sighed and rubbed his temples.

"Well, the two of you will- actually? Not yet. I'm going to wait until everyone is here, so I don't have to explain this over and over again."

"But dad!"

"Joshu. _Please_. Just… get over it. Whatever it is. Make nice, the two of you will be going to school together."

"You- you don't even know why I hate him?"

"No, I know you told me. I just didn't bother to remember."

"Josuke!" The boy in question turned around and grinned, shouting a greeting in response to Yasuho, who'd just shown up.

"Hello to you as well, Mister Higashikata! And- oh. Hey, Joshu."

"Why'd you say it like that?"

"Joshu, please behave."

"I was just aski-"

"Joshu." Yeesh! Why'd his dad always _assume_ he was going to say something bad?

"Um, so I'm not really sure what's going on? Why did I get a text from Josuke to come here? Is it related to the apartment?"

"Yes. I'll explain in detail when everyone is here, but I'm sure you can figure out most of it from context."

"Yeah, I think so. Uh, wait, does that mean Joshu is gonna be coming too?"

"Wait, hold on. What do you mean by 'the apartment'? Are you getting an apartment? And… and why were you talking about it with that Josuke bastard?"

"I'm standing right here..."

Joshu couldn't _believe _this! They'd just met, they couldn't be moving in together! That'd be ridiculous.

"Oh, we were gonna move in together." Joshu made a choking noise, but Yasuho continued like she hadn't heard it. "We're gonna be moving to be nearer to UA, since we've been accepted. We figured it'd be better to get an apartment for both of us, so we can split the rent."

"Wait, so how'd this start to involve me? Does this mean we're _all_ going to be sharing an apartment?"

Norisuke sighed yet again. "Why is it that I keep having to explain that I don't want to have to make multiple explanations? That is literally the _opposite_ of what I want. Just a bit of patience, please."

They waited a couple more minutes, while Joshu seethed to himself. He wanted to know what was going on already. And Yasuho was off in the corner, chatting away with Josuke. Ugh. Couldn't this last person hurry the hell up and get here already?

Finally another girl showed up, riding a motorcycle, of all things. Joshu swore everything just kept getting weirder and weirder. And why was it suddenly so damn chilly?

"Wait a minute… you're that girl from the entrance exam!" Yasuho appeared to recognise the girl- and that really confirmed it. They were _all_ freshman UA students. So does that mean the four of them would share an apartment? That seemed like it could get cramped. Joshu, however, suspected his suggestion they kick Josuke out to make room wouldn't be well received.

"Oh, hey Kyo."

"You two know each other?" Yasuho looked wide-eyed between Josuke and the 'Kyo' girl. "But she's so… um."

"My name is Kira Kyo. My brother was Kira Yoshikage."

Yasuho sucked in a breath through her teeth, and gave a sheepish glance towards Kira Kyo. Joshu didn't understand what the fuck was going on. Why was that important? Who was Kira Yoshikage? Did that girl's motorcycle just disappear? Was it a Stand? What was going _on_?

"Okay, now that you're all here, let me explain. Hirose and Josuke had been talking about splitting an apartment near UA. I myself had already been thinking about putting Joshu and Josuke in an apartment together."

"Dad, what the hell!"

"Joshu, seriously, just calm down. Anyway, I'd also become aware that Kira here was also going to be attending UA, and since the Kiras are a distant relation to the Higashikatas, and I'd been personally acquainted with her brother, I decided to help her in this regard. Josuke and I ended up getting together and discussing housing for you all. Josuke?"

"We found two apartments next to one another in the Musutafu district, close enough to walk to UA! Joshu and I will be in one-"

"Why has god abandoned me?"

"And the girls will be in the other. Norisuke will be paying for both, but Yasuho and Kyo will have to pay for their own non-housing related expenses."

"Yes, that's a good enough summary, I suppose. Well, has everyone finished packing?" When he got a nod from everyone, Norisuke continued. "Alright everyone, into the car. Let's get underway."

Joshu glared at Josuke. Yasuho glanced uneasily between Kira and Joshu. Kira gave a grimace towards Josuke.

This was gonna be an awkward car ride.

* * *

**I realise Kyo's Stand might not work this way. But there was a scene in her fight in the manga where the humanoid rider got knocked off the motorcycle, so the two_ can_ be seperated. It could be plausible. So that's how it works in this fic.**


	7. Welcome to UA

Chapter 7 – Welcome to UA

The apartment arrangement had been… tense. Josuke wasn't sure _why_, but Joshu still didn't like him, and made every effort to let him know. At least Yasuho would be next door. But they would need to work something out in order to make hanging out with one another an easier process. As it stood, going to her apartment would cause them to risk the cold awkward silence that Kyo brought with her, and hanging out in Josuke's apartment meant that Joshu would be around, doing... Joshu things.

They hadn't had to spend too much time bringing in the furniture- Josuke's shrinking Quirk and Joshu's Stand were super useful at that task- but afterwards they'd had to be _around _each other. It had only been a couple of days, and Josuke had no idea how they were going to make it through _years_ of this. The day before he'd ended up spending the entire afternoon in his room, staring at his phone so that he wouldn't have to be out in the living room with his new roommate.

But they were finally going to school. Maybe it wasn't normal for four kids to be excited for school, but when the alternative was arguing with each other all day? Class would be a total godsend.

It was a pretty big surprise to find out they were all going to be in the same class, but Kyo seemed to think it was because the school wanted all the Stand users to be together. They didn't know if any of the other students had Stands yet, but Joshu and Kyo seemed to think it was weird there were even four Stand users in the same year.

They walked to school together, though Kyo had to be reminded her motorcycle would freeze pedestrians and thus she couldn't use that. Or, actually, she had to be reminded she would get in trouble with the school for that, she didn't seem to care about the pedestrians. Once inside the building, it was a quick trip to Classroom 1-A. Josuke had to gulp, after looking at the massive door. Was this school meant for giants? It seemed quite intimidating to him.

He couldn't stop himself from looking around the room as they entered. There was a guy with _entirely_ too many arms, a pink girl with horns, and some… rocky looking guy. He wasn't totally sure what was going on there, but whatever, it looked cool.

"Ah, I see there was merit to your flailing after all." Kyo crossed her arms and scowled at the guy who'd addressed her, and- wait, did he have a bird head? What on earth?

"Enough merit to get me fourth place. Though I can't compare to you of course, your talent for sitting and staring at giant robots propelled you to the top of the rankings, no doubt."

Josuke turned away and left them alone. It was nice to see her making friends, she always seemed so grumpy.

He saw the guy with the cool hair from the entrance exam, and the girl with the spiky hair too. He had to admit he was a little disappointed, though. The very nice tall guy with the wind Quirk must be in another class.

Yasuho sidled up next to him, and bumped his shoulder with her own. "See anyone you recognise?"

"Two people. But I think one of them isn't very friendly. You?"

"Nah, just the bird guy, and he's talking to Kira. I'm gonna... I'm gonna pass on that conversation." Josuke understood. Kyo could be charitably described as prickly. "You said one of them doesn't seem friendly. What about the other?"

"Worth a shot." So they walked over to the spiky haired girl.

"Hey, we were both at the recommendations exam. I'm Kujo Josuke, this is my friend Hirose Yasuho."

"It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Yaoyorozu Momo. How do you know each other? Did the two of you go to the same middle school?"

"Oh, no. We actually only met a couple of months ago. We uh… met by chance and hit it off." Yasuho said. "It's a long story."

"I see. That's quite nice, that it worked out so well for the two of you. I must admit, I was worried about whether or not I'd be able to make friends with anyone here. I've not experienced all of the social interactions that most others take for granted."

"Yeah, I get that. I think everyone's a little nervous right now. And hey, if you aren't used to social interaction, Josuke's in the same boat. You'll get along swimmingly."

"It's good to hear I'm not the only-" Yaoyorozu cut herself off, and was looking at some… strange scruffy man. Was that the teacher?

"It's taken you all four seconds to quiet down. You aren't very logical, are you?"

The teacher immediately made them all change into their gym clothes and head out to a field for some sort of test.

* * *

"Bakugou. What was your highest score in the ball toss back in middle school?"

As the kid in question demonstrated his Quirk's abilities, all of the other students began whispering amongst themselves. Josuke could already feel the excitement. He was looking forward to some excercise himself- it would give him the chance to blow off some of the stress that had begun to accumulate recently, what with the move and all. This was looking to be pretty fun.

Which was apparently the wrong way to view it, since the teacher (Mister Aizawa, Josuke reminded himself) decided to threaten the lowest scorer with expulsion.

"Oh, and one more thing: those of you with Stands." An audible gasp went through a few of the students. "You're allowed to use them just as much as your Quirks."

"What?! Wait, which one of you guys has a Stand? That's crazy!" The pink girl looked around, as though she could discern the Stand users from appearance.

"We're supposed to compete with people who can use Stands _and _Quirks? How can we keep up with that?" This came from a very short boy, with purple balls on his head.

"Hah! Bring it on! I'll crush anyone, Stand or no!" Bakugou, this time.

"Yeah! That just makes the challenge even better!" Some red haired guy that Josuke hadn't even noticed until now.

Well. That was a lot of pressure. A quick glance indicated Yasuho was feeling it even more than him, if the thumbnail she was worrying with her teeth was anything to go by. He guessed that makes sense- her Stand wasn't very suited to tests like these. He sidled over to her, and gave her a gentle nudge with his elbow, before leaning in to speak.

"Don't worry too much. You'll do great. Your Quirk will work quite well with the dash and the ball throw."

"Thanks. But, will you be okay? Your Quirks and Stand are great, but..."

"Yeah, not really suited for this, huh? I won't fail here, though. I need to become a hero."

Aizawa called them up in partnerships for the fifty metre dash to start them off. The fastest was a boy with engines in his legs, at least until Kyo came up.

"Two seconds?!"

"She looked super weird though, flying around in a crouch! What kind of Quirk is that?"

"Maybe _she's_ the one with the Stand."

The teacher paid them no attention, and called Josuke and Joshu up to the dash.

"Before you begin, I want to make something clear. Injuring yourself is pointless in this test. It would only set you back for the rest, as you will not be given any form of healing until _after_ the tests have concluded. Just because something worked during your exam, doesn't mean it was logical. What if you were in a combat situation? You would only end up putting yourself out of commission, thereby dragging the other heroes down."

Next to him, Joshu, was staring at the teacher with suddenly wide eyes, sweat beading on his brow.

"But, then how am I supposed to win this?"

"That's for you to figure out, isn't it?" And with that, Aizawa fired the start pistol.

Josuke's bubbles took the friction away from his own side of the track, and he managed a time of four seconds. Joshu came in with seven.

That part of test went well for Yasuho- she was able to blast herself towards the finish line with her water, and got four seconds as well.

After that one, they took a grip test. Honestly, the only stand outs from that appeared to be the multi-armed guy and Yasuho, who used her water to exert pressure on the device. Bakugou ended up doing something similar, causing small explosions along his palm as he gripped the device. The bird headed guy who'd been talking to Kyo gripped the it with a black bird that came out of his torso. After he'd finished, Josuke went up to him.

"Hey, it's cool to see another Stand user! I thought my friends and I would be the only ones."

"Ah, you must be acquainted with Kira, and the pink haired girl with the water Quirk. I believe the teacher called her Hirose?"

"You're right, we're all... uh, acquainted. And Joshu- Higashikata, that is- as well."

Josuke thought the boy might've raised an eyebrow at that, but it was hard to tell.

"Interesting. That certainly is an abnormal amount of Stand users. But I hate to disappoint you- Dark Shadow is my Quirk, not my Stand."

"Whaaaat? But I was sure it was a Stand. That's odd."

"I must concur. Taking that and the number of Stand users into account, it would appear our class as a whole is unusual. But perhaps that adds a certain charm."

The bird guy might've talked funny, but Josuke was pretty sure he was an alright guy.

The standing long jump was far easier for the Stand users, all of whom just used their Stands to carry them across the sandbox, much to the displeasure of the other students.

"Wait, there are _four_ of them?"

"Come on, isn't that cheating?"

"Of course not. This test is to assess your powers, so there's no such thing as cheating. Such restrictions would be pointless."

As the next person went, Yaoyorozu came back over to Yasuho and him.

"I have to say, when the teacher mentioned there were Stand users, I hadn't expected the two of you to be amongst them."

"My Quirks aren't particularly useful for these tests we've been taking. I've actually only used my Stand around you, even back during the recommendation exams. I've been using it to remove friction from my surroundings."

"Did you say Quirks? As in plural?"

"Oh yeah, I've got two. Shrinking stuff and healing. It's complicated."

"I... see. Well, I don't, but perhaps I'll come to understand. And what about you, Hirose? What does your Stand do?"

"Mine is more of a support-type, I suppose. I'm sort of the opposite of Josuke: my Stand isn't particularly helpful in these tests, but my Quirk is."

The repeated sidesteps didn't go particularly well for anyone but the short kid with the purple ball hair, but the ball throw ended up being far more interesting. Whether it was the short-haired girl throwing a ball for 'infinity' metres (and the tracker actually showed an infinity symbol) or Yasuho blasting it off with her water, this was a round which allowed for much more showing off.

Josuke would be feeling every bit as worried as Joshu looked, if not for one thing. It was easier to throw things that had been shrunk, and even easier to carry them far into the distance with bubbles. His score ended up being on the higher end.

The distance run was topped by the same students who'd gotten high scores in the dash, whereas the toe-touches didn't have much standouts whatsoever.

It finally ended after the pull ups, where once again, all the Stand users (apart from Kyo) were easily able to simply push themselves back up over the bar with their Stands, letting them do the workout without actually working out.

"Alright. I'm not going to waste time explaining how you were scored, I'll just show you the scores."

Josuke wasn't too surprised to see Yaoyorozu, cool haired boy (Todoroki, apparently), and Bakugou at the top of the list. Their Quirks were versatile, and had helped them lead in nearly every test apart from the toe touches and the sidesteps.

He noticed Yasuho and Kyo had both placed in the top ten- seventh and ninth, respectively. He himself had placed in twelfth, above the gravity girl and below the acid one, and Joshu… oof, seventeenth.

But the one with lowest score was the short boy with the purple hair balls.

"Does… does this mean I'm expelled?" The boy gulped, breath coming out in quick puffs.

"No. No one's getting expelled. Yet. That was just a deception to get you all to try your hardest."

The class was, as one would expect, riled up at the ruse. Josuke overheard a girl with headphone jacks on her ears talking to a blond boy about how afraid she'd been the whole test.

"It's just, my Quirk isn't too useful under the circumstances… I'm just surprised I didn't come in dead last."

"Yeah! It's same with my lightning. It's super strong, but it won't help me touch my toes or run fast. This was so nerve-racking..."

Josuke followed the rest of them back to class. This was certainly a interesting way to start off the new school year.

* * *

**AN**

**If you're curious, I put together the list of scores. Based it off the original, but it's altered for the character additions and removals, ofc. The students removed to make way for the Morioh squad (as the class is limited to 20 students) are Hagakure, Sato, Aoyama and (as already mentioned) Midoriya. I removed Hagakure, Sato and Aoyama, because, let's face it, they're boring. Koda only edged out Sato because his Quirk is more interesting.  
**

**1\. Yaoyorozu Momo**

**2\. Todoroki Shouto**

**3\. Bakugou Katsuki**

**4\. Iida Tenya**

**5\. Tokoyami Fumikage**

**6\. Shoji Mezo**

**7\. Hirose Yasuho**

**8\. Ojiro Mashirao**

**9\. Kira Kyo**

**10\. Kirishima Eijiro**

**11\. Ashido Mina**

**12\. Kujo Josuke**

**13\. Uraraka Ochako**

**14\. Koda Koji**

**15\. Asui Tsuyu**

**16\. Sero Hanta**

**17\. Higashikata Joshu**

**18\. Kaminari Denki**

**19\. Jiro Kyouka**

**20\. Mineta Minoru**


	8. 2v2

Chapter 8 – 2v2

They'd all had lunch, which all the other students used as an excuse to begin talking to one another again. Already her classmates were beginning to form social groups. Kyo didn't really see the point in that, they were here to be heroes, not make friends.

Once they'd returned to class, she'd simply taken her seat and waited for the next teacher, keeping to herself all the while. She was starting to feel a bit tired after all the excitement from both homeroom and just the general business of getting acquainted with a new school. She hoped the next lesson would be a quiet one.

All Might burst in.

Ah. There goes that.

"I am here, entering through the door like a normal person!"

Most of her classmates, predictably, began freaking out. It's one thing to be told the number one hero would be your teacher, another to see it in person. They shouted, and jumped around, like the starstruck teens they were. Kyo, naturally, did not engage in any such foolish antics.

"You must be excited, Kira, for your typically pallid cheeks have turned the same shade of scarlet as blood." Tokoyami, once _again_, seemed to find his amusement in bothering her.

"Th-that is a blatant falsehood, and you should be ashamed to spread such lies!"

Next to her, a blond boy with a black stripe through his hair turned the girl with earlobe jacks.

"Hey, Jiro. You're like, scene or whatever, right? Do you know why these two are so weird?"

"Dude. I'm punk. And no amount of punk would help me understand those guys."

"Wait, I thought punk was leather and spikes and stuff..."

"That would make Kira punk. I'm pretty sure she's emo."

"She isn't wearing any of that leather stuff right now, just a school uniform."

"Yeah, but look at her. I just _know_ she does."

Kyo hated all of them. She swore she did.

"You think that's why she gets along with Tokoyami? 'Cause he's emo too right?"

"No, I think he's goth? Or maybe just a chuunibyou."

"I am neither! I am simply… no, forget that, stop trying to label me!" She had to admit, it was a weird sight to see a bird blushing.

After the fanfare died down, All Might ushered them out of the classroom, and brought them to the locker rooms. Apparently the costume designs they'd submitted had already been brought to life, and they'd be donning their new outfits for All Might's class.

She definitely hadn't been observing the costumes of the other girls in the class, because she didn't care, but she may have noticed a few of them in passing. Simply by chance. And so what if she compared the designs to her own? That was only natural.

She knew hers would probably be one of the only ones to cover every inch of skin, but she had to admit she was surprised at how much a few of the others exposed. That girl with the ponytail, was her outfit even legal? Kyo had thought she'd have the least complex outfit, but she was surprised to be outdone by the ear jack girl. Seriously, at least Kyo had a theme, what with the black leather jacket and pants, black boots and black motor helmet. Ear girl just had what looked to be street wear on. Although on further examination (which Kyo totally didn't do because she totally didn't care) the girl's boots appeared have some sort of electronics attached.

Finally they began to exit the locker rooms, and started taking in the boys' costumes. Wait… was Kujo seriously just wearing the sailor outfit he'd stolen from her brother? She grit her teeth and walked past him when he tried to engage her. And then, from the peanut gallery, she heard it.

"Wait, that has to be Kira underneath that helmet, she's the only girl whose face I'm not seeing. See Kaminari? I _told_ you she wears leather and spikes and stuff!"

Once they'd all reconvened in the hall, All Might led them down to the cityscape where they'd taken the general entrance exam. They followed the man into one of the buildings, whereupon he explained the day's exercise. They were to be split into two person teams: one would be the 'hero team' tasked with capturing either the enemy team or the faux bomb, and the others would be the 'villains', whose goal was to defend said bomb.

He pulled out a ballot box from behind his cape (where had he even been hiding it?) and began digging around.

"For the first round, the hero team will be Young Iida and Young Tokoyami!" a number of students sucked in a breath at that. They'd all seen the two in Quirk assessment test, and both were quite formidable in their own right. It certainly didn't appear anyone was lining up to be the opposition, apart from maybe Bakugou, who had a dangerous glint in his eye. "And the villain team will comprise of Young Mineta and Young Sero!"

Even Kyo winced at that. Well, at least it would be over quickly. The class settled in to watch the match, while the four boys called went to prepare.

* * *

Perhaps it was an unseemly abundance of pride speaking, but Fumikage felt as confident in their victory as a predatory bat, sweeping down to catch unsuspecting insects in its maw. He and Iida had confirmed their strategy beforehand- stick together until they found the room the objective was located in, then Fumikage would attack, thus distracting their foes whilst his partner rushed towards the bomb.

With the two (frankly redundant) sticking abilities their adversaries possessed, he and Iida were both certain the two would stick to their chosen room, playing up the defense.

When they entered the building, they were somewhat surprised to find it already trapped. Tape spanned horizontally across walls in some attempt to block their ingress. But the token struggles of their prey were for naught, as Dark Shadow tore through the obstacles.

"Their Quirks are good for trapping the building, but aren't quite subtle. So long as we stay alert, we won't be caught off guard!" Iida arms moved about stiffly as he spoke.

"Yes. Let us keep a watchful eye. The shadows shall shield us, and we will be as serpents hidden in the tall grass, poised to deliver a lethal kiss."

"I don't appreciate the comparison. I feel a more apt metaphor would be an eagle, flying swiftly forth to deliver justice!"

Fumikage paused.

"Do eagles deliver justice?"

"…Perhaps that wasn't perfectly apt either." Iida was flustered, if his red face was any indication.

They continued on, Dark Shadow tearing down any tape they encountered.

"It's curious. We've yet to run afoul of Mineta's balls."

Iida looked at him with a grimace.

"That sounded better in my head."

"Well, regardless! You raise a good point. Perhaps that is the key to understanding their strategy! But what could they gain by only usin-" Iida's voice was cut off by a loud groaning noise, which echoed across the hall. "...I don't suppose you have an idea of what that might've been."

"It sounded as though it came from above us, but there's nothing on the ceiling."

"No, but… does the ceiling seem lower on this floor than on the first?"

"Now that you mention it… though the meaning behind this is yet obscured to me."

"Your way of phrasing it is odd, but I agree with the sentiment."

They paused for a moment to see if anything would happen, but when nothing came of it, the two continued on. It wasn't as though they could allow the timer to elapse simply because they'd heard a noise.

They were still on the same hallway when they finally found the room they were looking for. Sero and Mineta were stood near the doorway, rubble and dust inexplicably covering the floor. As planned, Fumikage called forth his Dark Shadow and sent it forward, attacking the two while Iida broke off to rush the objective. The plan however, fell to pieces as the groaning noise from earlier came back, louder than ever. As Fumikage looked upwards, the heavens opened, spilling forth a torrent of stone onto him.

Which is to say the ceiling collapsed. He recalled Dark Shadow quick enough to protect himself from the falling debris, but it still piled up and trapped him. Across from him, Iida stumbled and fell forward. There were no falling rocks at Iida's location near the bomb, but for some reason he'd still been tripped up.

"Curse your villainy! This is devious trickery! Truly, you two are the height of evil!"

Iida flung his arms around, knocking away the rubble that had already been on the ground when they entered, and Fumikage understood. The trap had been in two parts: the falling ceiling trick (which he still had yet to truly understand) and a minefield of sorts surrounding the bomb. The detritus cluttering the room had been a cover, obscuring a number of Mineta's sticky balls. Oh… ugh. Perhaps spheres was a better word?

Regardless, Iida had run straight into it, and found himself caught.

"Very cunning. I must ask though, how did the two of you obtain this rubble? And how did you get it to fall?"

Sero was the one who came up to answer Fumikage.

"Well, I wrapped the bomb up with my tape during our prep time. And then swung it around, breaking up the walls and stuff."

"That is… incredibly reckless."

"Hey, if it works."

"And the falling rocks?"

"Come on dude. We affixed them to the ceiling with Mineta's Quirk, arranged 'em so it was hard to tell they were broken pieces and not the actual ceiling, and then just let 'em drop."

"I see. Thank you."

"No prob. Plus..." Sero grinned. "Thank _you_ for losing."

"You misunderstand. I am thanking you for talking, instead of placing the capture tape on me and finalising your victory." Dark Shadow had more than enough time to soak up the darkness beneath the rocks that had immobilised Fumikage. Now, it sprang forth, scattering the rubble across the room.

Half a minute later, All Might declared the hero team's win over the speakers.

* * *

"And, though he was nearly defeated, I'm naming Tokoyami the Most Valuable Player!" All Might declared. "Now, can anyone tell me why? Young Kirishima?"

"Well, he was the one that beat up the villains. So of course he's the MVP."

"Yes, that's one of the reasons. Can anyone think of another? Young Yaoyorozu." He pointed to the girl who'd raised her arm.

"The heroes could have easily overpowered the villain team and won by default, but Iida messed up by trying to rush the objective, and thereby trapping himself in the ball minefield Mineta set up. They may have planned to that beforehand, but it was still a weaker strategy than simply brute forcing it. While Tokoyami managed to win it for them, he was also taken off guard by the villain teams falling ceiling trick. He was only able to free himself because Sero wasted time bragging. If these were the only actions taken into account, Mineta would likely be the MVP. However, concerning the villains, while Sero made the obvious aforementioned mistake, it wasn't their worst move. The villain team as a whole failed to take the test seriously. They were only able to get the rubble by bashing the bomb against the walls a few floors up. If it were real, that would have had immediately disastrous consequences. Therefore, they did not respect the spirit of the excercise."

"Ah, yes, well, you missed a few things, but that about sums it up. Very good!"

Tenya felt sick on his stomach. He'd already had enough time to berate himself for his actions in test, but now, hearing his classmate point out the his failure made it all the worse. The only worthwhile thing he'd done was distract Mineta, who'd taken the time to put the capture tape on him while Sero dealt with Tokoyami. Yaoyorozu had the right of it- he'd messed up. And even though the villain team acted recklessly, they'd had a plan in place. One that almost worked, too. And what had Tenya done? Just rushed in blindly. It had been their own plan, sure, but now he was realising how weak a plan it was to begin with.

All Might's voice cut through his inner monologue, as the teacher took out the ballot box and started digging through it for the next competitors. Tenya nodded once to himself, and resolved to pay very close attention during the following matches. After all, he would need to learn to do better. Yaoyorozu's analysis, while harsh, was wholly accurate, and he could only hope to match her observations next time.

* * *

Kyouka had admit it. She was absolutely terrified. And, stoic though he may be, she expected Shouji must feel the same way. It was inevitable, really.

They'd drawn Bakugou.

They were already a bit disappointed to be on a team together, since they cancelled out the extrasensory aspects of each other's Quirks. But then All Might had announced the villain team, comprising of Bakugou Katsuki and Higashikata Joshu.

And oh man, if that wasn't enough to make her want to surrender already. They'd only met today and everyone had _immediately_ learned to steer clear of the kid. You knew someone was a piece of work when they worried you more than the Stand user they'd been partnered with.

"You can morph multiple arms, right? Go ahead and do that before we go in, I can take over listening for them."

"Alright. As far as our strategy for combating the two of them…"

"Yeah? If you've got any thoughts, I'm all ears." She said, motioning to her ear jacks with a smile.

"Well, after seeing Bakugou's performance in the Quirk assessment test, I think it's fair to say neither of us can defeat him in a straight fight. Speaking of, how exactly can you fight?"

She pointed out the support gear on her boots. "These speakers can send out my heartbeat as a sonic blast when I plug into them. So I guess that makes me the ranged option, and you the melee."

"That makes sense. In that case, we need to separate the two of them somehow, and overwhelm them as a team."

"No objections here. But if you're gonna close distance on 'em, I'll need to be flanking them, so my attacks don't catch you as well. I don't have a lot of precision with 'em. "

From there, they discussed methods of drawing Bakugou away from Higashikata until the buzzer sounded, signalling the start of the match.

When they entered, she plugged her ears into the wall.

"They're both in the room with the bomb. Third floor, second room on the right. One of 'em's pacing, probably Bakugou."

"If he's restless, perhaps we should wait for him to come to us."

"Eh, I'm not sure we can risk that with the time limit in place. Who knows how long it'll take us to beat him?"

"Fair enough. Shall we make noise?"

"Yeah, it'll bug the hell outta him."

Shouji morphed his arms into mouths, and all of them began screaming. Kyouka had to cover her ear holes with her hands, while she sent her jacks into boots, pumping the sound of her heartbeat loudly through the corridor.

After about twenty seconds of this, she paused to plug back into the wall.

"Stop! Hey, Shouji, stop!" He relented. "Okay, so that worked _too_ well, they're both coming. Thoughts?"

"Hit and run tactics? You blast them from a distance and we stay on the move?"

"Nah, that won't tear 'em apart. Maybe we can just go straight for the bomb? I can break the ceiling by sending my heartbeat through it. If you can climb up there, we can make our way straight to the objective without running into those two."

"That certainly sounds preferable to engaging in combat."

They broke through and made their way to second floor, Kyouka briefly taking a moment to listen and check their opponents' location. Once he'd climbed up, Shouji extended a lengthened arm down to her, with the offer to pull her up. Once they were both on the second floor she turned to him.

"You remember where the bomb is located, right? I'm pretty sure they heard us breaking through, because they've changed course. Just rush the objective; I'll stay behind to slow them down."

"Are you certain?"

"Yeah. Look, the quicker you go means the quicker you reach it, and that means I won't have to spend as much time fighting them. Just hurry up and go, alright?"

He assented, and started towards the staircase.

She, on the other hand, started sending her heartbeat out through her speakers, broadcasting her location to the enemy team. After about twenty seconds, the wall directly to her left just opened up, and Higashikata stepped straight through, launching a fist into her side before she could turn to face him.

"Stop making that damn racket! You're lucky you're cute, otherwise I'd have punched you straight in the nose!"

That… whatever. She quickly snaked a jack into the floor behind, listening for the other member of the villain team, and her heart sank. Bakugou was returning to the room where they'd stashed the bomb. Evidently the two had seen through their ploy. Shouji, she realised. Earlier, he'd been screaming with her. With him no longer making his own noise, they'd figured out he wasn't with her.

"Look, you must already know it's over right? Just give up, I'll be gentle, I promise." Higashikata smirked down at her. Was… was that seriously his outfit? It was all bright green and blue and red. God, it hurt to look at. And did it _have _to be spandex? Plus, everyone knew capes were only cool if you were literally All Might.

She plugged into her speakers, blasting him back into the room he'd come from with a sonic attack. Then she started running to catch up with Shouji.

"Not so fast!" The floor had opened up beneath her, and Higashikata reached out a hand to grab her ankle, before yanking her down to the bottom floor. He dropped her to the ground, the impact into the concrete driving the air from her lungs.

"Wha- how did you get below me?" Kyouka wheezed.

"My Stand, **Nut King Call**, allows me to connect or disconnect whatever I like. I used it to break a hole in the floor, so I could drop down a level and avoid your attack. And since you've been so much trouble… I think I'll connect you to the floor, so you can't move around and be even more of a bother."

He poured a large amount of some blue, gelatinous substance from his hands, sticking her to the floor, and she felt an invisible fist impact with her abdomen.

Kyouka sent out a sonic attack directly into him, knocking him into the wall. But it was short-lived, as he quickly opened the wall up and slipped through. Luckily, her sonic blast was also enough to break through the substance he'd covered her in. It scattered all across the room until it looked like a Jackson Pollock painting. Seemed like his Quirk just let him make things sticky. How unlucky, that he had two redundant abilities. No wonder he used his Stand for everything.

She tried to get up, get over to Shouji, but it was like there was something in her stomach, pinning her to the ground.

She plugged her jacks into the floor, sending her heartbeat through it and breaking a crater out, freeing her from it, even if a bit of debris still clung to her back. That small rock was the specific part of the floor Higashikata had connected her to, evidently.

Kyouka ran through the hallway, taking the stairway two steps at a time, until she heard the explosions from upstairs. She plugged into the walls, and sure enough, on the third floor was a smaller boy standing up, and a larger one laying on the ground. Bakugou and Shouji.

She grit her teeth. This had just become impossible. She listened for Higashikata. He was on the second floor now. Was he using his Stand to boost him up to the ceiling when he broke through it? Whatever.

She continued up the stairs, but altered her course. Rather than intercept Bakugou, she elected to take a page from Higashikata's book. Standing directly beneath Bakugou, she plugged into the ceiling and shattered it.

"What the fuck!"

The boy crashed into the ground, and she wasted no time, plugging into the ground and breaking it as well, sending him down to the first floor. He was more ready for it the second time, and pointed his arms behind himself, sending out explosions to propel him back up to meet her.

She'd expected that though, and plugged into her speakers, sending out a sonic attack and knocking him back into the ground.

"Oh, of course that idiot with the godawful hair couldn't deal with _one _fucking person. Do I have to do everything myself?"

She chose not to respond, simply sending out sustained blast of sound at him. He took it head on, getting knocked straight into the ground, but managed to endure it, lifting himself onto his hands and knees and crawling away from the hole. He disappeared into the room next door, and Kyouka took a moment to listen for the enemy team's movements. Bakugou was making his way for the staircase, and clearly Higashikata had heard the commotion, because he was coming straight for her.

She was about to be sandwiched. Well, it was fun while it lasted.

She hid in a nearby room, listening for her opponents. They met in the corridor outside her hiding spot.

"You lose track of her, Bakugou?"

"Shut the fuck up ugly. Shit, she's probably heading for the bomb again. I'll go intercept, you stay here and look for her on this floor."

"I can move between floors more easily, I should be the one to-"

"Oh my god, will you shut the fuck up? Just do what I say."

And with that, Bakugou ran back to the staircase. Well, if Higashikata was going to stay, she would at least have an easier target.

As she listened, he went from wall to wall, presumably opening them with his Stand to check the rooms. She waited until he was in front of her room, before plugging into her speakers.

The wall opened, and she sent out a blast directly into him.

"Oh, not again! Dammit!"

She pressed her advantage, walking forward and keeping up the sound. Bakugou will have heard her attack, and was almost certainly on his way back. She needed to finish this quickly.

"Ah! Oh man, I'm sick of this! **Nut King Call**!"

Kyouka felt a sharp pain in her left leg, and the heartbeat attack had stopped emanating from that boot. It was more pain than she'd ever felt in her life... what the hell was happening? She bit back a screech at the sensation and looked down. Oh.

Her left leg was laying on the floor, perfectly bisected. She could see the white of the bone in the centre, surrounded by red muscle. Blood oozed from her dismembered limb, and gushed from her stump, turning the concrete floor red.

Her vision blurred. There was a ringing in her ears. She barely even heard Bakugou enter. Her other speaker, the one still attached to her was still blaring out her heartbeat, which had become almost frantic.

The other leg came off as she was still looking down, and then she fell flat on her ass, no longer able to stifle her screams.

"Holy shit dude, what the _fuck_ did you do?"

* * *

"Well, that was unfortunate. I think this is a good time to remind you all: while I want you to take this seriously, and treat it as realistically as possible, there are limits to how far you may go." All Might said, once the second round had finished. "Young Jiro will be fine after a quick stay with Recovery Girl, but I must chide Young Higashikata for his _incredibly_ reckless behaviour. Even if you know you can put them back together, maiming your opponent is still very much not allowed. As such, Young Higashikata, you will be receiving a failing grade today, and you will have detention for the next three weekends. I want you to take this time to reflect on your actions, and think about what you could have done better."

"Wait, but I fixed her immedi-"

"Young Higashikata. Be thankful I'm not giving you a suspension, or worse. My first instinct was to hand out a much harsher punishment, but I have had a few minutes to think, and cool down. Your current punishment is quite lenient. If this were Aizawa's class, you'd be at a very serious risk of expulsion. Keep that in mind."

Everyone was quiet for a moment. It had been a disturbing sight to see on the screens. Even Mina was feeling a bit of a solemn mood.

"But as for the rest of you: don't lose your energy and excitement for your own matches! We'll be skipping analysis, owing to the events that unfolded. So it's time to move onto the third match. To that end…"

All Might rooted about in the box. "The hero team will consist of Young Ashido and Young Kirishima!"

"Woo! You hear that? We're a team!" Mina grinned at her friend.

"Yeah! We're gonna kick some major butt!"

"And the villains shall be… Young Koda and Young Kira!"

In contrast to the hero team's boisterous and loud attitudes, this proclamation was might by absolute silence on the part of the villains. Or, no, Kira just scoffed. That totally counted.

But, Mina was feeling a little worried now. She'd seen, and wasn't likely to forget, what Higashikata's Stand had been capable of. And now _she_ had to fight a Stand user herself.

They took up position outside the door, and waited.

"Wanna plan our attack?" Kirishima asked her.

"Hmmmm. Nah, let's wing it. Last two teams to overthink everything totally lost. Oh, take down Kira first."

"Definitely."

"Glad we're in agreement. I like my legs where they are, thank you very much."

"Too soon, Ashido."

"Yeah, sorry."

All Might called the start, and they rushed in.

"Just skip the first floor, ya think?"

"Yeah, no way they'd be down here."

Mina slid across the floor on her acid, her partner lagging behind a bit as he wasn't able to match her speed by running.

It began once they reached the second floor. A flock of birds flew down the hallway, having entered from who knows where. They began pecking and scratching at her, screeching in shrill tones. She shrieked and jumped back, waving her arms wildly to try and keep 'em away. Kirishima had, by this point, caught up, and was now moving through the flock with ease. The beaks and talons were just blunted on his hardened skin.

Mina just stayed behind him, using him like a shield. She might not like being pecked, but she didn't want to _melt_ the poor birds.

"Aw man, this sucks! Let's hurry and find the room they're in!" She moved out of cover and opened a door. Not long after, her teeth started chattering, and she had to wrap her arms around herself to stay warm. "W-what is with th-this draft?!"

She found the cold dissipated when she slammed the door shut, but man, what had been up with that? She ran to another door, and was again hit by a blast of chill air after opening it. It stopped when she closed the door, but the cold had built up so much there was ice on her fingers.

"Th-this has to be Kira's doing!" She said as she melted the ice with her acid. "Koda's the one doing the bird thing, this has to be her Quirk somehow!"

"Well, we can't even see what's happening, so maybe it's her Stand. Has she trapped all of the rooms with it somehow?" Kirishima was swinging his arms around, pushing the birds away.

"If she has, we're screwed. We'll freeze and get pecked to pieces before we find the room we need! This is... it's uh... it's a war of attention! Or, no wait, um… a war of addition?"

"I totally get what you're trying to say, but I dunno the word either. But think about it… if they're trying to get us to freeze opening all these doors, then they'd want as many rooms between us as possible."

"Yeah? Oh wait… you're saying they've gotta be on the top floor?"

"Exactly! We can just skip everything in between."

"But the birds..." He was keeping them at bay, but how long would that last, really?

"Ashido, come on. Can't you just make like, a really weak acid? You don't gotta burn 'em, just irritate them till they leave us alone." Well… it did seem kinda necessary.

"I guess… Sorry birdies!" She produced a really weak acid, and flung it towards the harassing swarm. It must have worked, because they all started squawking and wheeling through the air randomly, before finally flying away.

With the obstacle removed, they ran up each flight of stairs until there were no stairs left. Once on the top floor, they began opening doors at random. Mina kept getting iced over, but after the first couple of rooms, they realised Kirishima was somehow not being targeted at all. They quickly shifted tactics, and he took over the task of opening each door.

"You see the birds?"

"Nah, I don't think they'll be back."

"No, I mean, look out the window. The birds are watching us."

Mina grit her teeth. Evidently their opponents would know they were coming.

They were about halfway through the floor when they found the room with Kira and Koda in it. Kira had clearly been waiting for them, because the moment Kirishima opened the door, she threw a pen over his shoulder, nailing Mina right in the nose.

"Hey! What was that f-for?" And suddenly she was cold again. What? But she didn't open the door! She glanced down at the pen that had struck her and saw the cap had come off after the it hit her. Did that have something to do with it? She reached down for it, melting the ice that was forming on her arm with her acid. Kirishima charged ahead, not noticing her plight, and went straight for Kira, fist raised.

The cold assaulting her stopped once she put the cap back on the pen, but in that time, Kira and Koda had already engaged Kirishima. Koda's birds were back, harassing and distracting the red head while Kira threw punches into him, making his skin warp and twist. Some sort of golden glow was surrounding her, and travelling from her fists into Kirishima.

Well, she'd like to help, but it was best if she just ended this here. While the enemy team fought her partner, Mina slid across the room on her acid, straight towards the bomb.

"Oh no you don't!" Kira had evidently seen her, because she was flying- literally, she looked like she was straddling air- to intercept her. And _again_ that cold came over her, ice forming on her side, the one closest to Kira. Well, desperate times call for desperate measures.

Mina poured a high concentration of acid into floor, melting out a hole radiating out from her, just as Kira was almost on her. The two of them fell, and kept falling, as her acid ate through the floor in the room underneath them as well. They finally hit the ground after falling two floors.

"Oh, man." Mina was wheezed. "That's gonna be sore tomorrow."

"Why would you do that? You got yourself with that stunt too!"

Mina elected not to answer, instead throwing a glob of acid at Kira, who yelped and jumped out of the way.

Kira reached out, grasping air, and moved like she was trying to mount something. She had to abandon that, however, as Mina lobbed yet another bit of acid directly onto her.

"You can't use that glowy Quirk of yours without getting close, and you know you can't do that without getting drenched in my attacks. But you need time to get on your Stand, or you need to get me to open something. So long as I keep attacking, you can't counter at all, isn't that right?"

She kept throwing acid till All Might announced the hero team's win. Evidently Kirishima had dealt with Koda and then walked over to touch the bomb.

Mina couldn't resist jumping up and cheering.

* * *

"But can you tell me what your mistakes were?"

Koda was clearly not going to start talking, but Kira was evidently fine with it.

"I think my biggest mistake was targeting Ashido with my Stand, instead of Kirishima. Her Quirk meant she could remove the ice with no harm to herself, but for her to do that to Kirishima would have burned through his hardening and weakened him for the final confrontation."

"Quite right!"

"If I may add something!" Tenya raised his hand. "I feel the villain team may have gotten better results by being unpredictable. The heroes were able to figure out the villains were on the top floor, and even rushed past the first, totally dismissing it. If the villains had hid somewhere less obvious, and if Kira _switched_ her target frequently, rather than focus on a single opponent, the hero team would have been exhausted long before they found the bomb."

* * *

Uraraka gave Ojiro a thumbs up as she descended the staircase.

"I stuck the bomb on the side opposite the entrance. Once they come in, I'll go back and float it. That way they won't see it."

"I have to say, I almost feel bad for them. I can't see them winning this."

"Don't be hasty. Yaoyorozu's Quirk is seriously useful- she might make a rope and lasso it or something. Besides, we don't even _know_ what Kujo's abilities are, really. Just that he's got a Stand _and_ a Quirk."

"Yeah, that's a good point. Iida and Tokoyami assumed victory, and they nearly lost."

"Exactly!" She grinned and pumped her fist. "We've gotta give it our all! They will be."

"And be sure not to get captured ourselves. They don't need the objective if they take our team out."

"Yep. I gotta say though, I'm surprised All Might's allowing this… I kinda thought, y'know, since it's _indoor_ training, he'd oppose it."

"Well, we'll still be fighting indoors, I guess. So it must count."

"I suppose."

When the start of the match was called over the intercom, Ochako waited a few seconds, and then walked back up to the roof. She made the bomb float, careful not to disturb it too much and send it flying off.

"So, how you wanna deal with those two?" Ojiro's voice came from behind her. "I was thinking of hiding by the staircase and ambushing them when they came out."

"That's pretty good. We both have to get in close to use our Quirks, and the same probably isn't true of them. Hmm. I just had a thought. Are you okay with being bait?"

"Hey, if it'll work, I'm down. Whatcha need me to do?"

They went down to the third floor, expecting the hero team to already be doing a sweep of the second. Ochako walked over to the staircase entrance, and pressed herself against the wall.

"Go into that room over there, and be sure to leave the door open. Try to keep making noise, but make it sound natural. Like you're pacing really loudly, or something."

Not long after, she heard movement on the stairs. The other two were coming up. They paused when they got to the third floor.

"Hey, Yaoyorozu, I think I hear someone." Kujo whispered. "In that room over there, with the open door."

"Kujo, wait, something doesn't feel-"

But it was already too late. As Kujo passed the entrance, Ochako reached out and grabbed him, sending him into the ceiling. She tensed as she did so, because he reached out a hand of his own to touch her arm, but it must have just been a reaction, since nothing occurred as a result.

"Ojiro! Now!" Her partner rushed out, just as Yaoyorozu threw… a doll into the hallway.

"Um… what are-" The doll exploded.

The bright light and loud bang left her reeling, blinded and ears ringing. She grasped at the walls, making sure to orient herself. Then, Ochako touched her own arm, removing the gravity on herself, and put her feet against the walls, kicking off and rocketing down the hallway. Still blind, she pushed her legs out to take the impact of hitting the far. Even so, it left her shaken for a moment.

She felt sick, but it was even worse this time because of the flashbang, and the impact against the wall. Fumbling around, she made it into what was _probably_ an alternate hallway. It was a bit difficult to tell, her senses were all over the place.

She fell into a kneel, and puked all over the floor.

She felt bad about leaving Ojiro behind. But even if he got caught… she had to keep going, or the hero team would win. Just keep 'em distracted until All Might called time.

Her vision finally returned, albeit a bit spotty. And the ringing in her ears was dying down. She was correct earlier, in that she'd managed to make it into another hallway. But… why was this hallway so _big_? She didn't think it was one she'd gone down earlier, so it made enough sense that it was an architectural outlier, and she'd just not known about it.

She crept over to the end of the hallway, and peeked around the corner.

Ojiro was nowhere to be seen, but Yaoyorozu and Kujo were both there, the latter still on the ceiling, rubbing at his eyes. Something wasn't right though.

"Aw man! I'd closed my eyes but it still hurt."

"Well, think of how bad it must be for the other two. Come one, we must get after them. Do you have any idea where they might have gone?"

Why… why were the two of them so tall, all of a sudden? She knew she was a little on the shorter side, but they were suddenly around twice her height!

Kujo. When she'd thrown him earlier, he'd managed to touch her arm, but she hadn't thought it'd done anything. Maybe she was wrong.

"Hmmm. Well, not like they'd be able to open a door after that… let's check the hallways." Oh no.

Ochako moved back down the hall she was on, suddenly understanding why it was so much larger than before. She couldn't hide, she'd puked all over the floor! They'd see it and know she'd been here.

She could only really think of one option, and she _really_ didn't want to do it. But it wasn't as though she had much of a choice anymore.

After opening one of the doors, she ran inside a room, and over to the window. She tried to open it, but it kept sticking. Evidently it didn't get much use, and it wasn't like Ochako had enough upper body strength to force it.

"Oh, that's disgusting. Well, we know one of them was in this hallway."

"Yeah. Think they're hiding in one of these rooms?"

"Makes sense."

Crap. Those voices were right outside! She redoubled her efforts, but the window just wouldn't budge past the halfway point. The door handle right outside her room started to turn. No, she didn't have a chance! She absolutely wouldn't be able to get the window open in time.

Shouts rang out from the hallway. A feminine voice that was obviously Yaoyorozu, and… was that Kujo _and_ Ojiro? Evidently he'd come to this corridor and encountered their opponents.

"Uraraka!" A muffled voice sounded from the corridor. "Don't help me, just run! If they get both of us they win!"

Deep down she understood, but it still made her feel guilty. Ah well. Nothing to be done for it now. With the distraction, she finally had enough time to open the window.

She touched her face with her fingerpads again, activating her Quirk on herself a second time. Well, not like she had anything left to throw up. She floated straight out the window and grabbed the sill to keep herself from flying off into the sky. From there, she did some bizarre approximation of rock climbing, wherein she let go of the building's side and floated up for a brief period, before latching onto another outcropping to prevent her from drifting too far away. Since All Might hadn't announced a victory for the villains yet, she was pretty sure Ojiro had been captured.

A glance down confirmed her suspicions. Yaoyorozu was leaning out the window she'd climbed out of, and looking… past her? Ochako followed her gaze to see- oh. The bomb was floating in mid-air, in plain view, if one happened to be looking outside and upwards.

She'd made a mistake in fleeing through the window. If she had just run through the halls instead, they wouldn't have seen- no. There'd be time for self recrimination later. Right now she had to try and salvage this.

She forced another window open, this one on the top floor, and crept back inside before releasing her Quirk's affect on herself. And there was that familiar roiling in her stomach, but without any food to expel, she was able to push past it and continue on.

Ochako had to get to the bomb and somehow prepare for a fight with the hero team. But what could she do? She wasn't likely to win a slugfest to begin with, even less so now that she'd been shrunk down. And it wasn't as though sending her opponents into the ceiling would do much to prevent their success. Kujo was still moving around fine from what she could tell, even if he had to do it upside down.

Maybe she could just keep moving the bomb until time ran out? It was unaffected by gravity for the time-being, so perhaps she just keep going along the sides of the building with it. But even if her stomach was empty, she was pretty much certain she wouldn't be able to handle the affects of her Quirk on herself for that long.

The thought was rendered moot anyway, as a hand clasped her shoulder. She spun around, looking straight at Kujo upside down face. Thanks to the zero-g, a quick punch sent him flying across the hall, but she could see the ceiling getting even further. She'd been shrunk again! At this point, she estimated herself to barely reach up to Kujo's thigh.

How had he managed to sneak up on her? It was though he didn't make a single sound, even when she'd punched him she hadn't heard the impact. It sounded absurd, but had his Stand taken the sound away from him somehow?

Ochako ducked into another room, but this time she had to pull herself up to the windowsill in order to open it. She struggled even more in opening this window. She didn't have the size or leverage to budge the darn thing, not even a little bit.

Ah, well, you gotta do what you gotta do. She lashed out with her boot, shattering the window, and lifted her arms over her face for some semblance of protection as she squeezed through the glass shards. A few nicked her cheeks anyway, but it wasn't as though she could let them get to the objective.

She floated herself up to the roof and landed. It took even longer than it should have. Because of her drastically reduced stature, she had so much further to go. By now her stomach was screaming in protest, and she was clutching her gut and dry heaving. The door squeaked open, and Kujo floated out, careful to keep a hand on the doorknob to prevent him from falling into the sky. Yaoyorozu was right behind him, a length of rope in her hands. Well, looked like this would be her last stand.

If she could just touch Yaoyorozu, they wouldn't be able to lasso the bomb. They'd need to keep a hand on the roof to stay grounded, and they wouldn't have any traction.

Ochako ran towards Yaoyorozu, careful to keep her eyes on the girl's hands. Who knew what she'd create?

But as she ran, her feet completely lost traction, and she started sliding across the floor faster than should've been possible.

"Yaoyorozu, net!" The girl nodded at Kujo, and the net came straight out of her pre-assembled.

She tried to right her footing, but it was too late, and she slid straight into their trap. The larger girl hadn't needed to make much- Ochako had shrunk so much the small net completely entangled her. The two of them wasted no time putting the capture tape on her, having learned from Sero's earlier failure.

And All Might announced the hero team's victory.

* * *

"We shouldn't have gone to meet the hero team directly... we should've split up and tried hit and run tactics."

"I'm not sure about that." Tenya said. "If you had done that, you would be unaware if your partner were to be captured, and the hero team may have had an easier time picking you off."

"I'm glad to see you kids getting into this!"

* * *

"But she's got a Stand, dude! Who knows what kinda crap she'll pull? Didn't you see what Higashikata did?"

"I already told you no. I am not _freezing_ the bomb. It would defeat the purpose of the test."

"Pshh, you wouldn't have even thought twice about if All Might hadn't graded Sero lower for using it to break the walls."

"Obviously. That's my point, I don't want to receive a lower score. Do you?"

Shouto was doing his absolute best to be polite, he promised he was. It was just _impossible_ when his supposed 'partner' kept running his mouth at a mile a minute. The lightning ability could prove useful, and that was about the only reason Kaminari wasn't already a popsicle.

"Look, just stay here and watch the bomb, alright? I'll freeze all of the doorways leading to this room, so they can't make it in here."

"Oooooh, that's even better!"

Honestly, why did he have to get one of the various loudmouths in the class. The other boy had to know how irritating he was, he just _had _to.

Shouto walked down to the bottom floor, sticking with the plan and erecting a wall of ice to block of the stairway entrance and exit. He didn't think either of the girls on the hero team had anything that would let them break through the first wall, but he saw no reason to take a chance. Hirose had some sort of water spraying Quirk, judging by her performance in the apprehension test, but he wasn't sure how much pressure or precision she had. He continued placing ice barriers along the stairwells and hallways until finally returning to the room housing the objective. He erected the ice there as well, behind the door so that even if the heroes made it to this floor they wouldn't be able to immediately tell this was the room they wanted.

"Hey man, you wanna get the window too?"

"No. That would be visible from the outside, since the window is transparent, and they would know where we are. Better to let them exhaust themselves trying to find us. Neither of their Quirks aid in locating anything."

"Don't forget about Hirose's Stand, dude. She didn't use it much during the test, so maybe it has other sorts of uses."

"That's... actually not a bad point for once. Still, there's little we can do to defend against that until we have a better understanding of it."

"...What do you mean by 'for once'? Todoroki?" Shouto ignored him.

All Might called the beginning of the match, and the villain team waited. Shouto knew this would go in his favour. He had so much power as a result of his father's ambitions, whether he liked that fact or not. Even thinking over the other students in the class, none of them stood on the same level as him, except maybe the girl with the creation Quirk. Even the Stand users didn't measure up. Kira's Stand had good mobility, but its ice was clearly weaker than his own. Higashikata's had some strength to it, but not enough to challenge Shouto. And he _still _wasn't quite sure what Kujo's even did, despite having watched the boy's fight.

The window behind them shattered, interrupting his thoughts. The two boys spun around to see the girl with the frog Quirk jumping in, her partner held in her tongue. Damn, he hadn't considered her ability to climb walls! But how did she find their room so quickly? She would have had to check every room through the windows, and that would've taken more time than this. But his eyes fixated on the device strapped to Hirose's wrist. It looked like any normal cellphone... but it had a map of the building pulled up, with the exact room his team had chosen highlighted. Was this her Stand? He really had no way of knowing, but the grey cellphone was an oddity, standing out amongst her bright pink outfit, so he had to assume there was a reason. A relation to her Stand seemed as good a reason as any.

Todoroki sent out a blast of ice towards them, forcing them to back away from the bomb. He then constructed an ice wall between the two sides of the room, curtaining the girls off from their objective.

The ice wall steadily began to melt in a circular pattern, towards the middle. Hirose's water Quirk? Yes, a bit of water was starting to spray through the hole forming. Todoroki topped it back up with another wave of ice, patching the hole. His teeth were chattering. Dammit all, he'd expended too much effort making the ice in all the doorways, and now he was steadily overcooling. The walls hadn't even been effective to begin with, they'd been completely bypassed.

"K-kaminari, I h-have an idea. C-come here." Damn the ice starting to form on him, he was having trouble getting the words out.

"Uh, sure man? What's up?" As the boy walked over to him, Shouto grabbed his shoulder, and pushed him in front of the ice wall, where the cracks were appearing in greater concentration. The water spraying through started getting on the boy, wetting his clothes.

"W-what the hell, man?!"

"She can't see that you're getting the water on you, with that wall in the way, and her own attack obscuring the holes. She wouldn't normally aim a stream of water at you, knowing your Quirk. This is your best chance to catch her off guard."

"Oh... _Oh_, yeah!" Kaminari flashed him a grin and a thumbs up.

The last of the wall's integrity broke down, and the water stream carried straight into the boy before Hirose could stop. Electricity arced up through the water and into the girl sending it out.

"Yasuho, are you alright?" Asui asked her companion, but there was no response. One down.

The frog girl leapt through the hole, and began to jump around the walls, probably trying to get an angle where she could leap onto the bomb. Shouto wasn't about to let that happen, retreating to stand by it, ready to freeze her if she came close. She soon gave up on the method, and focused instead on aiming for the Kaminari. She kicked him in the back, and lashed him in the gut with her tongue, pinballing around the room and keeping her attacks brief. Without a long enough contact, Kaminari wasn't able to shock her. She just kept wearing at him.

Shouto watched, content to let it happen. He'd been banking on them being slowed by the obstacles he'd placed throughout the buildings, so that he could recuperate his strength. Now he resorted to taking Asui's focus on his partner as an opportunity for a respite, running a bit of heat through his body with the use of his left side.

Kaminari, without any method of countering Asui's quick strikes, was clearly starting to falter. His only recourse was to try and time it, and match his electrical output with her attack before she landed it. But his unimpressive level of mental alacrity was on display for everyone- he was completely incapable of keeping up with the girl. She switched up her timing, and purposefully missed strikes, following up with actual attacks.

Finally, his partner crashed to the ground. At some point in the battle, he'd evidently run too much electricity through his body, because he had started to stumble around and mumble in confusion.

Asui turned to regard him, sweat trickling down her brow, and breath coming out in huffs.

"You already know you can't." Shouto said.

She leapt across the room anyway, bouncing off a wall and ricocheting towards him. But he'd had enough time to bring his temperature back within acceptable ranges, and another, smaller wall of ice sprang up between them, which the girl crashed into. He stepped around it, as he hadn't made this one large enough to section off parts of the room, and sent a wave of ice straight for her, catching her legs as she tried to jump away.

When he put the capture tape on her, the end of the round was announced, and he began the task of melting all the ice he'd placed.

* * *

"I made too many assumptions about how the hero team would attack, and didn't consider every possibility. Also, I tired myself out before starting the fight. I should have reserved more of my energy."

"No, even if it didn't work out, I think you made the right decisions." Tenya and Todoroki both looked at Yaoyorozu, a bit surprised she said that. "You ultimately _can't_ account for every possibility. You bet on the most likely, and it didn't pan out. That doesn't mean it wasn't the best course of action given the situation. Besides, you made consistently good calls throughout the match. Cordoning off the heroes, placing Kaminari into the path of Hirose's stream, and protecting the bomb while letting him fight Asui as you recovered. Especially that last one. Most would have charged into the fray and placed their whole team in jeopardy. You kept a level head."

"A good analysis, Young Yaoyorozu! If I can offer this bit of advice: Never let perfect become the enemy of good! Todoroki's first choice didn't pan out, but he adapted to the situation!"

Tenya nodded to himself. He hadn't really considered that. In fact, all of his advice in the last few rounds had been aimed towards _perfecting_ the various strategies displayed, rather than finding something that simply worked. When it was down to the wire, he wasn't sure method would hold up. Yaoyorozu was really ahead of him, wasn't she... Tenya had to admit, he was impressed.


	9. Class Representative

Chapter 9 – Class Representative

There was some woman out in front of the gate this morning, with a microphone in hand and a camera crew by her side.

"Excuse me, you four! Are you all All Might's students? What is the number one hero like as a teacher?"

"Heh, he's pretty good. Of course, once I graduate, I'll be even bette-"

"Oh hush Joshu, we all know that's not true."

"Y-Yasuho, why'd you have to say that…"

"He's interesting so far, but it's not like we've had enough classes with him to be able to form any real opinions, right?" She continued, like she hadn't heard him.

Josuke hummed. "He's very… loud. And big."

"And what about you, young lady?" The reporter turned to the last member of the Morioh group. "Your classmates have shared their thoughts, don't be shy!"

"Get out of my way or I'll freeze you solid."

* * *

Aizawa strode into class 1-A just as the bell for homeroom rang, not a moment too soon. He walked up to the podium, face serious. An air of intensity swirled around him, and even Kyo was nervous.

"Let's get down to business. I'm sorry to have to tell you on such short notice, but..." Everyone tensed. "Today you'll be picking a class representative."

"That's so normal!" Shouted Ashido.

"Oh guys, I'd be the best! I've totally got this!" Kirishima, this time.

"Huh?! What are you talking about, it should be me, obviously! The rest of you don't even come close!" Bakugou shouted right back at him.

"No, guys, I'm from a hero family, I'd definitely be the best for this!" Said Higashikata.

"You're kidding right? After that 2v2 yesterday? Who the hell would vote for you?" Kaminari asked.

"Everyone calm down!" Iida rose from his seat, hands waving wildy. Kyo wasn't able to track those motions at all. "It's obvious what we should do. We need to put this to a vote!"

"Come on dude, everyone'll just vote for themselves."

"Which is why it's perfect. Anyone who gets multiple votes _must_ therefore be respected by their classmates!"

"I don't care how you decide, just get it done." Said Aizawa, climbing into his sleeping bag.

As everyone made the case for themselves, Kyo considered her options. She was a realist at heart, and expected none of the others would be voting for her. Should she vote for herself anyway, on the off chance one of her classmates would choose her? Should she vote for someone else, and try to pick someone she likes to be class rep? Did she really like _anyone _enough to vote for them? But it's not like she really wanted the added responsibility anyway...

She closed her eyes. Raising her hand and moving it around in slow, meandering motions, she counted out ten seconds. She extended a finger and opened her eyes. Apparently her method had landed her on Hirose. Well, whatever.

"Hey, Kira, you can't be serious... You're just going to choose at random?" Her unique solution had not gone unnoticed, it would seem. Kyo turned to regard the person who'd spoken- the wide mouthed tape slinging boy, Sero.

"Why not? I don't really think I need any of you to represent me. If I have to choose from a bunch of boring people, I may as well make it interesting in my own way." She said in a cold monotone, before turning away from boy who now had his mouth even wider, stunned at the way she'd spoken.

When the ballot box came around, she put the Hirose's name in.

Iida went up to the board, ballot box in hand, and started pulling out names. Nearly everyone just had one vote as he went along. Oh, wait, there was a second vote for Yaoyorozu, giving her the lead. Kyo didn't really get it- what was really so interesting about her? Just because she had a good analysis of the other students after the 2v2, and an incredibly versatile Quirk? Okay, now that she thought about it for a moment, she was starting to understand.

"And here we have a vote for… Kujo Josuke!"

"Meeeee? But I voted for… someone else."

Kyo tuned them out for a moment. She wasn't _that_ interested, and she really didn't want to have to listen to… him. When she finally returned her attention to the board, Yaoyorozu lead with three votes, and everyone else except for Kyo, Hirose and Iida.

"Last two votes. First one is for… Hirose. She now has one." Iida said, dutifully writing 'Hirose' on the board and placing a tally next to it.

"Huh, but I didn't vote for myself either. Odd." That one must have been Kyo's vote then. Ugh, and here she thought she'd have broken the tie for vice rep. Now they would have to repeat this for that position.

"And the final vote… Hirose again!" Huh, maybe it had worked out. Well, if it kept them from having this drag on too long, she was for it.

"The class representative is Yaoyorozu Momo, and the Vice Representative is Hirose Yasuho!" Iida declared, gritting his teeth in a failed attempt to keep his disappointment off of his face.

* * *

"Aizawa would say you let him off too easy." Principal Nedzu said.

Toshinori tapped his chin in thought. "Well, he was able to put her back together easy enough, and Recovery Girl healed her the rest of the way. I was pretty shocked when it happened, but ultimately, I just don't think it was quite severe enough to warrant a full expulsion."

"I say you've got the right of it, honestly. I like Shouta, but he can be a bit too stuffy, y'know? It's a combat situation, so students are bound to get a little roughed up. That's what Recovery Girl is here for, right?" Present Mic said.

"What punishment would you have given?"

Present Mic just shrugged. "Eh, probably not much. She healed right? No harm no foul. Although it skeeves me out a little, that he just went for it like that. All those Stand users kinda worry me though. We don't have a single teacher here with a Stand, so what'll we do if one of them starts acting up?"

"Hmm." The principal looked deep in thought. "I can't help but feel concerned. The last time we had Stand using students, aside from the occasional Higashikata family member, was over twenty years ago. And that was also the only time we've ever had more than one in a single year… up until now."

Toshinori frowned, and contemplated his hands, fingers steepled in front of him. "Yes… I recall."

"Woah, you two seem serious… what's up? Did something happen?"

"Well, it was after I'd already become a hero, so I didn't know them personally, but the Stand users he's referring to are Hierophant Green and Star Platinum. Two of the heroes who fought the villain DIO and his organization across Asia and Egypt. The only so-called Stand War known to have involved Japanese users. Like every Stand War, it resulted in a number of deaths, and widespread damage." Said Toshinori.

"Sure, but it's not like that was the students fault. They were just taking down a villain, so it's not any worse than what heroes have to do all the time." Said Yamada.

"An old friend of mine once told me that Stand users attract other Stand users. Get enough of them together and you'll have an absurd amount of battles. Battles that use strange powers ordinary people can't so much as perceive. This is what the hero community has nicknamed a Stand War." Nedzu explained. "The Steel Ball Run, DIO's attempts to conquer the world, and the Passione gang war in Italy… all confirm the theory. Whenever too many Stand users congregate, it means something dangerous is on the horizon. Stand using villains _will_ come after Stand using heroes. So that raises the question: If there are four Stand users in our school, and a family of them in the north… where will the villains attack?"

"I understand your trepidation principal, but you don't need to worry about any of the students. I am here!" Toshinori stood, his massive muscled frame towering over the other two. He made to leave the teacher's breakroom, but was stopped by the principal calling after him.

"All Might, do wait a while, we have so much time to catch up with one another. Yamada, you have a class soon don't you? I would hate for you to miss it."

"Uh, right… I'll get right on that. Thanks, principal." Present Mic had to squeeze past Toshinori, as the number one hero took up much of space by the doorway, even though he tried to give his co-worker some room. Well, it's not as though he had any way of making himself smaller. Truthfully, it was the nature of One for All that made him so huge, though Toshinori liked to think it was how healthy he kept himself for a man in his fifties.

Once the other teacher had left, Nedzu turned to regard Toshinori.

"All Might… you do remember Sir Nighteye and Hermit Purple's predictions, don't you? Have you thought about my suggestion any?"

"Of course I have! And I think it's a good idea… I'll be needing to find a successor eventually anyway, prediction or no. But, Principal Nedzu… I don't really see the likelihood that Sir Nighteye's vision shall come to pass. And we barely even understood _what_ Hermit Purple was showing us, it was far too vague. If All for One wasn't able to kill me, what villain could hope to?"

"Perhaps one with a Stand. I've heard some concerning rumours. You recall Star Platinum."

"Of course, we were just talking about him. Are you referring to his daughter? I'd… heard she broke out of prison."

"Yes, it's quite concerning to the hero community, but we're trying to keep it quiet so the public doesn't panic. Kujo Jotaro was the rank three hero in the world for a while, after yourself and Captain Celebrity. The fact that his daughter has not only turned to villainy, but amassed a bit of a following..."

"Principal, is there something you're not telling me?"

"Hmm. Astute. Jolyne Kujo, the villain known as Stone Free… has vanished. Her last recorded whereabouts were somewhere along the American west coast, but no one has seen her in several months. And a few days before Kujo Josuke was discovered, there was some sort of disturbance in Morioh. Locks melted off in a museum, and cargo destroyed and scattered all over a ship. The parties responsible are still unknown to us, but I have my suspicions. The timing is just too convenient."

* * *

"You're absolutely certain? This is _way_ too high profile, if we do this, we'll become Japan's Most Wanted overnight." Jolyne said, staring at the elderly man hunching over their plans.

"Yes, yes, I'm quite sure. Do you have any alternate interpretation?"

"Yeah, maybe you're just trying to trick us." Annasui growled. "How can we be sure you are who you say you are, old man?"

"Annasui, calm down. He's telling the truth, I've already done a check. Plus, we _saw_ how he got this information, so it's not as though it could be a forgery. Sure, it's not the best location, but choosing the location isn't up to us. So long as we have Weather with us, we'll be fine."

"Emporio, what do you mean 'with us'? You aren't coming. You aren't a combatant."

"Wait, Jolyne, I can fight. My Stand isn't that aggressive, but I can still-"

"No. You're a kid, and besides that, you're more important coordinating our efforts and handling information. You'll stay here. Keep the old guy company."

* * *

"That false alarm was pretty crazy, right?" Ochako laughed "Can you believe how Iida calmed everyone down?"

"That was a very interesting technique, ribbit."

"Yeah, he looked so goofy! I can't believe it was the media though… that reporter lady is really committed, huh?"

"That's one word for it. Another would be 'deranged'."

"Wow, you really don't hold back huh?"

"I believe honesty is the best policy."

"Okay everyone, just gone on and settle down. I know we had a big old ruckus out there earlier, but it's time to focus, alright?" Snipe said, taking his place at the front of the class. He was still wearing his hero outfit. Ochako had to wonder if he ever took his mask off.

"Since it's the beginning of the school year, I'm not gonna cram pre-Hero history down your throat just yet. Too much to cover. These first months are gonna be about more modern History. What all happened with the advent of Quirks. We're gonna be focusing on well known Hero families to start with." Ochako wasn't sure, but she thought she saw Todoroki grimace. Why, did he not like history or something? She could sympathize, it always seemed kind of boring to her.

"First up, and this one a few of you should _really_ already know… who here can tell me the founder of the Joestar hero lineage?"

Kira raised her hand immediately, but Snipe didn't call on her right away. "Come on, can anyone who isn't related to the guy tell me? No? Alright, go ahead Kira."

"My great great grandfather, Jonathan Joestar, known by his hero name Tusk. He won the Steel Ball Run race, defeated the Villain President Funny Valentine, and used his Stand to trap his adopted brother Diego Brando, also known as the villain DIO, in a state of permanent rotation for almost a century."

"Yep. Right on all counts. Tusk was also the first hero to start a tradition that most Stand using heroes- and villains- use today, wherein they take the name of their Stand as their hero name. You'll notice that his contemporaries, such as the aforementioned Funny Valentine and Diego Brando, just used their real names, or some derivation of 'em, despite having Stands of their own. It's 'cause no one had done it 'til old Johnny Joestar."

"Now, what about the next Joestar hero? Anyone?"

This time, Yaoyorozu raised her hand, and Snipe called on her without hesitation. "That would be Joseph Joestar, known as Hermit Purple, would it not? He defeated the villain Kars, who made an army of 'vampires' with his Quirk. I believe Hermit Purple was the number one hero in the world about fifty years ago." She turned to Kira. "Would he happen to be your… let me see… great grandfather?"

"Drop the great. He's my mother's father, though I don't see him too often. He lives in America, and his Japanese isn't great. And my English is even worse."

"Well, I'm sure Yamada will beat that out of you. Alright, third and last heroic member of the family, uh, 'til now." Snipe looked towards Kira and, for some reason, Kujo with that last line. "And I expect more of you to know this one, alright? He's the one that beat DIO."

Ochako put her own hand up this time. "Um, isn't it Star Platinum? But didn't Kira say that 'Tusk' did… something to DIO?"

"Yep. He used to his Stand, also named **Tusk**, to make every cell in DIO's body spin for a century, trapping him in a single spot. Y'see, most people, like Funny Valentine, for instance, would've starved to death long before the century ended. But despite having been born Quirkless, which was much common in those days, DIO had received a vampiric Quirk from Kars, the villain overlord who was later slain by Hermit Purple. So, DIO survived long enough for the rotation to end, which no one had really known was possible."

"Wait, why did all these villains die? I know heroes are sometimes forgiven for using lethal force, but I was kind of under the impression that it was an _absolute _last resort." Ochako said.

"They were Stand users, for the most part." Snipe said. "Stands are incredibly dangerous, and while using either a Stand or a Quirk without a hero license is illegal, Stands _cannot_ be policed. Stand users, by and large, cannot be detained, as we have no way of disabling their ability. This means many Stand using villains face summary execution at the hands of Stand using heroes, unless they cooperate peacefully. As such, Stand using heroes must get a special license beyond the usual hero license in order to use their Stands, as well as lethal force."

"Um, couldn't you make a prison with Stand using guards?"

"They tried that, fairly recently, in fact. A prison in Florida- one of the American states for any you who don't know your geography- hired a head guard with a Stand, one that could wipe people's memories or something like that. Almost a year ago, they had maybe five or six Stand using prisoners escape. One of those prisoners wouldn't be out of place in today's lesson, in fact... but never mind that. Suffice to say, relying on one or two guards isn't a great method of keeping villains in check, and that's about the most Stand users a prison could ever manage to hire."

"Moving on now. We just touched on Kujo Jotaro- that is to say, Kira's older half-brother. Don't give me that look, I know you were dying to brag. But does anyone know the name of the families the Joestar lineage has ties to?"

Wait. He'd said Star Platinum's real name was Kujo Jotaro… and earlier he'd glanced at Kujo when he was talking about the lineage. Ochako raised her hand again.

"Someone else this time, please… Really, no one? Fine, Uraraka?"

"Well, the Kujos? And the Kiras."

"Yep, those are two. Anyone know the other one? Anyone at all? Higashikata, tell me the name of the other family."

"Wha- me? I dunno… the, uh… Aizawas?"

"You… you think Aizawa is a Stand user?"

"Well, it wouldn't surprise me. He's kinda scary."

Snipe hid his face- or rather, his mask- behind his palm. It looked kinda ridiculous to Ochako.

"No. The other hero family with ties to the Joestars _are _the Higashikatas. Tusk married one of your ancestors. Higashikata Rina. Honestly, what is your father teaching you?

"Alright, last question on this subject. What makes it easy to distinguish the members of this lineage?"

"Stands!" Shouted Ashido, eager to get a question right.

"What else?"

"Uh… they… all have names with 'Jo' in them?" Everyone else in the class started giggling.

"Well, at least you were paying attention. Kira, care to handle this?"

"We all share a Quirk. Called 'Ripple', it allows to flesh. We can use it to heal, or warp people's bodies. Like I did to Kirishima in the 2v2 matches. The trade off is that we have to maintain a certain breathing pattern to use it."

* * *

No one had voted for him. He'd expected it, but it still stung, if he was being honest. He'd expected Yaoyorozu to win, but Hirose getting second place was a surprise. Just like him, she'd voted for someone else, but evidently she'd managed to make more of an impact on a few of the other students. It was clear to Tenya that he had a lot of catching up to do, but he just wasn't quite sure how. Did he need to train his mind? Improve upon his charisma? Or grow stronger with his Quirk?

"Hey, I know you! You're Ingenium's brother right? He's a good hero, nice to see you following in his footsteps."

Behind him was a man with odd, swirly green hair. Tenya hadn't even seen him, he was so lost in thought.

"Hello there! IT's wonderful to meet a fan of my brother's!" What was concerning was how the fan could recognise Ingenium's family. That was a disturbing violation of privacy. Tenya would have to find out how this man came to possess such sensitive information. In the wrong hands, that could be used to threaten a hero, or strike out at them.

The man laughed. "Yeah, I guess you wouldn't recognise me. I'm Higashikata Jobin, the hero known as Speed King. I've worked with your brother in the past."

That was a relief. A coworker would have much reason to know about a hero's family. Maybe Tensei bragged about him? The thought made him want to swell with pride. He'd live up to his brother's expectations. He just wasn't sure how. Wait, did that man say Higasahikata?

"Are you related to Higashikata Joshu, by any chance?"

"Yeah! He's my own little brother. Are you in the same class?"

"Yes, we are. Your brother is a very capable combatant." Privately, Tenya held other, less favourable opinions of the boy, but there was no need to say that to his brother's face. And it was quite true that Joshu was a dangerous fighter- he'd seen as much during the 2v2. Tenya doubted he would be able to beat the himself, especially since... "His Stand is quite versatile, and not something I would want to face."

"Yeah, that's true of almost all Stands. The only way to protect yourself from one is have your own." Higashikata hummed. "Have you thought about getting one?"

"Getting... one? Pardon me, I thought people were born with Stands."

"Huh? Well, yeah, that's one way. But there's a group that sells them here in Mustafu. Supposedly they have a Stand granting weapon or some such, and they'll give you one for a price. Well, I can't imagine that's very legal, so the government _must_ be getting involved soon." The man hummed again, scratching at his chin. "Actually, now that I say that, maybe it's better not to get involved with that kind of stuff. Forget I said anything, alright?"

"Of course. I would never seek out illicit services." Even if it seemed like exactly what he was hoping for. He still had his pride as an Iida.

"You're a good kid. Make my sure brother keeps to straight and narrow too, alright? Lord knows I've spent enough time worrying about that crazy kid. Anyways, I've spent enough your time, I'll let you go. Maybe I'll see ya around."

* * *

**AN**

**Hopefully the history scene explained in what ways the JoJo universes and the MHA one are merged. And don't worry, you're not meant to understand the Jolyne scene in this chapter... yet.**

**Lastly, I'll be taking a brief hiatus next week. So chapter ten will come out the week after that. Also, my computer is on its last legs and could break at any time. If (when) that happens, I'll upload what I already have written, and then the fic will be on indefinite hiatus until I get a new one. **


	10. USJ Part 1

Chapter 10 – USJ Part 1

"Alright everyone, form a line and enter the bus in an orderly fashion." Yaoyorozu stood next to the bus door, motioning everyone to queue up.

"I have a question!"

"Yes, Iida?"

"Do we have a seating chart?"

"Uh… no. I didn't make one. Should I have made a seating chart?"

"That would be up to you as class representative, but it wouldn't have mattered anyway." Aizawa cut in. "This bus isn't the type that would work with a seating chart, the layout is different from most school buses. Now, if you're all done chatting, can we get a move on?"

"Of course!" The two replied, practically in unison.

Josuke was standing in front of Yasuho, so she had to lean forward in order to speak quietly with him. "Want to sit together?"

"Sure, got somewhere in mind?"

"Preferably far away from Joshu. And Mineta. Oh, and also Kira and Bakugou. But the first two take priority in the list of people to avoid."

As they filed in, it became apparent that the rest of the class was largely on a similar wavelength as her. It had only been a week, but everyone had started to get a grasp of each other's personalities. Kira was sat next to Tokoyami, and no one was really avoiding her, as she'd apparently been deemed the most tolerable of the more… _difficult_ students. Mineta was in second place in that regard. While he had a few guys near him, the girls were avoiding him completely. With so many seats already taken, Yasuho gripped Josuke sleeve and stopped him when they reached the empty seat right in front of Bakugou. The only other seats left were by Joshu, so she considered it a necessary loss.

Jirou walked up onto the bus and froze, looking out over the few empty seats remaining with a wide-eyed grimace. Yasuho winced, but she wasn't gonna be the one to offer a trade with her. Luckily for the punk girl, Kirishima appeared to take notice of her plight, quietly standing up from his seat next to Asui and strolling over to sit by Joshu, thereby freeing up a seat flanking the wide central aisle.

The last two to enter were Shouji and Yaoyorozu, the latter of whom had been directing their had a similar reaction as Jirou, but reluctantly made their ways over to Joshu.

"Everyone ready? Alright, let's go." Aizawa started up the bus and began driving off campus.

The students were all excited for the trip, but the mystery of it, along with Aizawa's stern presence, had them a bit tense. For a while everyone was mostly a bit muted, either not talking at all or only talking to the people right next to them. Yasuho and Josuke were no exception, the two of them talking about plans for dinner that night.

"I dunno, I don't really feel like going out to eat. We do that every day, don't you ever want to eat at home?" Josuke asked.

"Two counterpoints. First, we'd have to eat with either Joshu or Kyo if we did that. Second, groceries are _so_ much more expensive than eating out in Tokyo. Mister Higashikata might be paying for your expenses, but he's only paying for the rent as far as I'm involved. My expenses come out of my pocket."

"Yeah, fair enough. I guess you're thinking about another ramen bar? I don't get your obsession with them, honestly."

"Hey, don't knock the ramen bars. They are the cornerstone of this nation."

"More than All Might?"

"All Might will retire eventually. Ramen bars will endure forever."

"Wait, you two, what are you talking about?" Ashido butted in, an evil grin spread wide across her face. Yasuho wasn't totally sure how a grin could be evil, but somehow Ashido had managed it. "Are you two going on a _daaaaate_?"

"Wh-no! That's- no, you're totally wrong!" Yasuho stammered out.

"Yeah, I don't think Yasuho really likes me like that anyway." Josuke said. She could curse his obliviousness sometimes, but it worked well right now. "We're just talking about what we're gonna eat later."

The pink girl cocked her head to the side. "So… like a date?"

Aid came from an unexpected source. "All the Stand users in this class live together. Those two only make plans with each other because they're the only two that're friends out of the four of us." Kira ended the teasing.

"Wait, Yasuho and I-"

"Please stop, Joshu. I said no."

"That's not even what I was gonna say! It's that we're childhood fri-"

"Seriously Joshu, take a hint."

"But that's not… ah man, whatever."

It seemed that argument broke the tense mood that had been keeping everyone quiet, because now conversations were ringing out all over the bus.

"I usually say what's on my mind." Asui broke in. "Kujo, why do you have two Quirks?"

Yaoyorozu hummed. "You only used one during the 2v2, but you've displayed another since then. And you told me already about how you have multiple. I must admit some curiosity of my own."

"Oooh, yeah, tell us, tell us!" Kaminari seemed to be excited by this new topic.

"Uh, well, that is… there… was a, uh, Stand. And it did some things. So that's why."

"Whaaaat? Boo, bad story!" Shouted Ashido. "What did the Stand do? How'd it give you another Quirk? Wait, which is your original and which came later?"

"I believe Kira described the Joestar Quirk as a flesh manipulating Quirk, which required the user to maintain a specific breathing pattern. Isn't that in line with one of your own? It lines up with what you said when we were strategising during the 2v2." Yaoyorozu asked. "Also, aren't the Kujos descended from the Joestars? That's what we learned in Snipe's class earlier this week."

"Well… it's just that… um, hey, Kyo? Can I tell them?"

"No. All of you: Learn to mind your own business."

"Wait, what? And how is it _your_ business what Kujo's Quirks are?" Jirou asked.

"Now, now. This is- evidently- between Kujo and Kira, so we should respect their wishes and not pry."

"Come on Iida, don't be a spoilsport!" said Sero. "Tell us! Tell us! Tell us!"

Ashido snorted, before joining in on the chant, and Kaminari quickly followed suit.

"Everyone quiet down. We're here." Aizawa slowed down and parked right beside a large domed building. The chanting tapered off, though not without some moaning and grumbling. They all began filing out of the bus, and Yaoyorozu organized them into two lines of ten before leading them into the building.

"There'll be two other teachers here alongside me today, and we're going to focus on rescue training."

"Who are the other teachers, Mister Aizawa?" Uraraka asked. But her question was answered as soon as they passed the door.

"Whoah, All Might!"

"Yeah, All Might's here! This school is the best!"

"Oh man! I read on my phone that he already stopped three crimes this morning. It's crazy he can do that and still come to school and teach!"

"A hero always has time to help out!" All Might proclaimed in response, bellowing with laughter.

"That's Thirteen! He's a hero who specialises in rescues!" Yasuho was privately surprised that Uraraka could focus on any other hero when All Might was in the room. Sure, they'd met him and had classes with him already, but he was still a legend.

Thirteen launched into an explanation of the exercises they'd be performing today. After Uraraka made a comment about Thirteen's Quirk, Black Hole, the hero gave them all a warning about the possible uses of their abilities. "All of your powers could prove fatal if misused. While that applies to Quirks, it's possibly even more true of Stands. Stands _cannot _be regulated by any normal means. This is why most Stand-using villains are killed in action, and why heroes require a special permit beyond their hero license to use Stands. Think on that, and understand the dangers that come with using your Stands- and Quirks, as well- outside of situations which entirely necessitate it."

"Yes! And with that speech concluded, we'll begin by splitting into teams, which will take turns playing at rescuers and those requiring rescue. For the first team, we'll hav-"

"Uh, hey, All Might? Sorry to cut you off… but… what is _that_?"

Yasuho looked at where Kirishima was pointing. There was a swirling black portal, and she sorta thought she see faces in it. Wait, she _could_. There was a man, covered in what looked like severed hands walking out of the darkness. And even more people were following him.

"Is this part of the test? I thought he said we'd be in teams..."

"Everyone, this is not a drill. Stay behind All Might and myself. Thirteen, take the students and leave. Go find help."

"Thirteen, isn't there an alarm in this building? Why isn't it going off." For once All Might was speaking quietly, his usual booming voice turning into a deep murmur. Even so, he didn't look at the hero he addressed, keeping his eyes on the people pouring out of the portal.

"There are. If they aren't active, one of those people most be jamming it somehow."

"I see. Then get a message out to the rest of faculty once you leave. Send reinforcements."

"Roger that. Everyone, group up. Don't worry about getting in a line, just make your way to the door. We're leaving."

"Aw man, but I wanna see All Might beat these guys up." Kaminari moaned.

"No buts, just follow me. This isn't a situation students need to be around."

They all grumbled their assent and started towards the door, but they'd barely got a few metres before the same swirl of darkness appeared in front of them.

"Everyone behind me." Thirteen pointed one of his fingers toward the darkness, but didn't open it.

"You must be Class 1-A. The students scheduled for today." A voice came out of the darkness, followed by a pair of glowing eyes. "You aren't really our targets, as we're more concerned about All Might, but we've gone through so much trouble to jam communications. It's not as though we could simply let you go find help." The villain chuckled. "My deepest apologies, but you'll have to die now."

"Like hell!" Bakugou shouted, and jumped forward, blasting out with his Quirk, as Kirishima flanked, slashing wildly at the dark mist.

"That was close." The villain said, as his mist scattered and reformed. "But I'm afraid your efforts are in vain. You cannot touch me."

"You two, move!" Thirteen called.

"I don't feel like dealing with you all myself, so feel free to go far away now." The villain said, spreading his mist out over the gathered students.

Yasuho couldn't see anything through the mist, and she felt like she was floating. The feeling soon vanished, and she found herself in the middle of a cityscape, with simulated wind and rain coming down hard on her face. Had the villain warped her to one of the zones in the USJ? Why? He'd said he was going to kill them, hadn't he?

Looking around, she caught sight of a familiar face.

"Iida! Over here!"

"I see you Hirose!" Iida jogged towards her. "I must say, I didn't expect to still be in the building."

"Think about it. If we were sent here, there must be a trap of some sort."

Iida hummed, holding his chin and furrowing his brow. "The villains. There were so many... they may be lying in wait here. In fact, they could be placed throughout the facility. That way they can divide all of us up."

"It would explain the lack of any of classmates nearby. They're all in different zones."

"Yes. Should we try and make it to some of the others?"

Yasuho lifted her arm. In her hero suit, she had a slot for her phone made available in the arms. "**Paisley Park**!" The pink Stand went into the phone. "Lead us... lead us to the nearest students."

A map blinked to life.

* * *

Fumikage felt sick. Between being swallowed by the dark mist of that villain with the warp Quirk, and the adrenaline pumping through his system as a result of the entire situation, Dark Shadow was nearly berserk. He was just lucky he'd landed in a well-lit area. Otherwise, Dark Shadow may well have become a raging beast.

A quick look around proved he was in the mountain zone, and that he was not alone. Next to him were two other boys from his class, neither of whom he'd formed a very positive opinion of. And all over the area...

"Oh man, are those villains?! We can't deal with this!" Mineta was shaking, and his words came out as squeals.

Higashikata rose straight up and grinned at the approaching villains. "They all look like small fries. This is gonna be a piece of cake. **Nut King Call**!"

But he quickly jumped back and bared his teeth when a particularly muscular villain with a skull mask stepped forward. Fumikage couldn't tell right away what was different about this one in particular.

"So, you've got a Stand too, huh?" The villain said. "All of you, deal with the bird boy and the tiny kid. I'll kill the one with the shitty bowlcut."

"Higashikata, can you handle him? I think we're going to be occupied."

"Worry about yourself, you feathered freak. I'm gonna kick this guy's ass."

"Noted. Mineta, I'm going to be the primary offense. Make a perimeter of balls around us, so they can't get close."

"Are you kidding? We can't fight these guys!"

"You won't have to, if you just make a perimeter. They're attacking either way, we have to at _least_ hold out until Higashikata can help."

"What can we even do? We need heroes for this!"

They didn't have time to argue, the villains were getting closer, and Fumikage could feel the Dark Shadow's rage bubbling to the surface. He let his Quirk loose, and lifted Mineta into the air.

"Do it or I'll use _you_ as a shield."

"Ahhh! Okay, okay, I'll do it!"

* * *

Katsuki had _never _been shown up like this. Out of all the villains in the ruined city zone, he had taken down less then a third, by his count. Todoroki was an absolute monster. He was freezing them left and right.

During the 2v2, Katsuki had been somewhat impressed by the other boy's abilities, but he'd still believed himself superior. If Todoroki made an ice wall, it could be blasted apart. Same for any attempts to freeze him. But the 2v2 hadn't displayed the sheer power the other boy could wield.

The destroyed streets and buildings comprising the zone had been turned into what could be mistaken for a post-apocalyptic ice rink. Villains were frozen to overturned cars, entire complexes were frosted over, and if he wasn't careful with his footing walking across certain roads, Katsuki could slip and fall flat on his ass

It was blindingly apparent he couldn't take Todoroki in a straight fight, which sent his mind reeling. His Quirk was _amazing_. Katsuki hadn't ever met someone he couldn't beat before.

If his mom were around, she'd scream at him to stop grinding his teeth or they'd crack. This time she'd probably be right.

"I think that's all of them. Shall we interrogate them?"

"Who gives a shit. I don't care why they're here, I just need to beat 'em up. I'm headed somewhere else, do whatever the fuck you want."

Katsuki had to get out of here. Go find more villains, prove he was the best. The entire fight here had been absolutely _humiliating._ He couldn't lose to some half-n-half bastard. Somebody, somewhere was about to get their ass kicked

He was almost outside of the zone when he crashed into something he couldn't see.

"Bakugou? What's wrong?"

"Fuck off, half-n-half. I'm fine." Katsuki ran his hands across an invisible wall of some sort and growled. "Must be a villain left. Some sort of force field Quirk. It's blocking the exit."

He sent off a few small test blasts across the entire width and then height of the ruined road, with each one impacting the force field. It was a damn big one.

Todoroki hummed. "Looks like we'll have to circumnavigate this. Let's find a different road."

"Fuck are you talkin' about?" Katsuki grinned. "I ain't circumnavigating shit- I'm gonna find the guy behind this and beat his ass."

Laughter rang out from somewhere in front of them. Since they were near the limits of the zone, only one building was left beyond the force field, so Katsuki naturally focused his attention there, trying to see the villain through the shattered windows.

"I'd like to see you try." Motion flickered from the top of the building, by a large hole blown through the side. A small villain, with a lizard like body was leaning out of the hole, a camera in hand. "I don't wanna spoil the surprise… but I'm willing to say this: no Quirk on the planet can help you escape my trap now. No road will lead you out. No building will have a path you can use to escape. The entire city is my trap. You're stuck here until I release you."

"Ha! Didn't anyone teach you not to brag about your abilities like an idiot? If your Quirk extends over the entire zone, then it has to have a different weakness, to make up for it's range. And I'd guess that's..." Katsuki took several steps backwards, and aimed his gauntlet straight at the force field, his finger hooked around the pin. Todoroki came up beside him, and began creating several swirling spikes of frost. "Its durability!"

They let loose their attacks, and the invisible wall was simultaneously assaulted by a massive explosion, and an even bigger iceberg. After both attacks impacted the wall, the explosion sent the ice flying all around them, smashing into the road and shattering into a fine mist.

When the mist settled, the two began walking forward towards the building the lizard villain was in- but they crashed yet again against the force field.

"What the- how is it still up?! What the hell are its limits?"

The villain chuckled yet again. "Those rules you seem so certain of? They're be correct… if I were using a Quirk." He drew a picture out of his pocket and showed it to them. From this distance, it was hard for Katsuki to make out any details, but the outline of the buildings and streets, and the white colouration from the layers of frost were recognisable enough. It was a picture of the city zone that they were in. "You are trapped inside the limits of this picture, which I can manipulate to my liking… behold, the unbeatable power of my Stand: **Atom Heart Father**!"

* * *

Thirteen was on the floor, the back of his suit- or his body, perhaps- torn open. The mist villain had warped Thirteen's own attack into the hero, and now they were a bunch of students alone against him.

Kyo was more than willing to follow the pro-hero's orders. She knew escaping and getting help would be more useful to her classmates than anything she could do in combat. But all the same, she simply wasn't able to.

"Kira, come on, hurry! We've got the door open, use your Stand and go already!"

She couldn't respond. Couldn't move. It was easy enough to figure out why. The mist villain, Kurogiri, he'd called himself… he had a Stand of his own. She'd seen her own face, hidden in his mist. Somehow, he was controlling her. Why did the Stand look like her? Did it have a range? The specifics didn't really matter, she guessed, as she would need to break free of it's hold to take advantage of any weakness it might have. And that was the rub, wasn't it? But wait… why was she the only one affected? If Kurogiri had just used his Stand on all of them, he'd be able to wipe them out immediately.

This power was simply too strong, so in terms of drawbacks, maybe there was a limit to how many people he could control. And if the Stand had taken her form specifically, that must mean it could only target one person at a time. The form it took indicated its target. In terms of single combat, this Stand was basically unbeatable. At least for her, since she had no way of making the villain open anything. She didn't want to rely on him… but it didn't seem like there was a choice anymore.

"Kyo, what's wrong? Why aren't you saying anything? You've brought your Stand out, why haven't you gotten on?" Kujo was looking at her with his head cocked and mouth open, displaying that massive gap in his front teeth.

She couldn't respond, so she stared at him, and started flicking her eyes towards Kurogiri. Kujo's Stand had ranged attacks, what with those bubbles of his, so he would be able to fight even after getting attacked by the villain's Stand. Then she could run and get the teachers.

"What? What is happening with your eyes?" Dammit, she thought, now was not the time to be oblivious. Why couldn't he just save that for his girlfriend?

Her hands came up to her own throat, and began to squeeze.

"Is he controlling her somehow?" Ashido said. "But I thought his Quirk was the warp gates..."

"He's a Stand user." **Soft and Wet** finally materialised next to Kujo, who'd turned to regard the villain. "But that's alright. All we have to do is keep him occupied. Then Kyo can escape. Ashido, back me up, throw some acid."

Black spots were appearing in her vision, and she was grinding her teeth so hard she almost thought they might crack. It sure took them long enough to figure it out.

"Oh? I see you're another Stand user. My, this class certainly seems capable." Kurogiri chuckled. "But that Stand seems like a short range type. You think you can keep me occupied? I don't see how you'll manage that from the other side of the building."

It was clear. If Kujo got too close, the villain would open another warp gate, and send him away from the battle. Then they'd definitely be finished… unless… wait. He would have to _open_ a warp gate. Kyo dematerialised her Stand. If she set it to it's automatic mode, with the humanoid rider attached, it could target Kurogiri whether she was being controlled or not. The moment he opened a warp gate, her Stand would attack. The gate would close quickly, but that could give her enough time to free herself.

Unfortunately, Kujo was playing it too safe, sending out bubbles and being sure not to come too close to the villain. That meant no warp gates were being opened. But while Kujo tried to suck the mist into his bubbles, the villain just kept making more. It was like trying to bail out a sinking ship with a spoon. And all of Ashido's acid was going straight through that same mist without doing any damage whatsoever. Kyo was feeling light-headed; she didn't think she'd be hold on much longer.

"Ah! How did-! I thought I'd avoided all of your acid! How did you burn me?" Kurogiri's mist was fluctuating wildly, and his massive glowing eyes had narrowed, fixated on the pink girl.

"Wh-what? I didn't. Did I?"

"No… no, you didn't, did you? You did." Kurogiri gaseous head twisted to look at Kujo. "Those bubbles of yours, you hid some acid in them didn't you?"

"And I don't have to worry about aiming them either. I just need to wait until they bump into something solid, and then spill the acid onto that."

"Well, my warp gates can deal with that! If they can't reach me, your attacks are useless." But just as soon as he opened a gate, **Born This Way **came speeding into him. "What? How are you attacking me, I have you immobilised!"

Kyo didn't respond, she just started running. He'd dropped his hold on her in his shock.

Kurogiri closed the gate, and **Born This Way** disappeared, but Kyo was already near the door. All she had to do was escape whatever range he had and she would be home free.

"Clever. Your Stand revolves around me my Quirk, or something like that. But it' not quite good enough." Another warp gate opened, this time right in front of her. Kurogiri had evidently decided to take her attack for now. A mirror image of her walked straight out of the gate and stared her down, and Kyo found she couldn't move yet again. When the gate closed, she knew she wouldn't get another chance to attack him.

"My Quirk and my Stand work in perfect tandem. If you escape my Stand's range, I'll just send it to meet you. You are totally under my control! Behold, the power of my **Surface**! None of you will be escaping from this place."

Using a Quirk in a Stand battle? It's like bringing a knife to a gunfight… but maybe that would have its uses too. Kyo focused her breathing. She sent the ripple through her leg, and forced it to move. It twisted wildly, and her foot was barely able to hold up her weight, but it was now further ahead of her then it was.

**Surface**… it couldn't mimic her Quirk. So it couldn't control it, either. She just had to keep using the ripple to move force her body to move, and she could escape.

"Ahhh, I see. You are a member of _that_ family. Unfortunately for you, I'm well aware of your family's Quirk. You see, my master was once an ally of the man know as DIO. We've been briefed on how to deal with your kind."

In front of her, **Surface** began to suck in huge breaths, and then exhale in short bursts, before varying it up by doing the opposite. To her horror, Kyo found she was involuntarily doing the same thing. Kurogiri was disrupting her breathing, and preventing her from using her Quirk!

What else could she do? Just wait and hope Kujo defeated the villain? He could kill her before that happened, and then he would be able to use **Surface **on Kujo.

"Kyo. Summon your motorcycle."

She wasn't able to turn, but she knew it had been Kujo who spoke.

"The others can't see it, so they can't mount it. But I can. I can get help. It can be either of us who gets out, and he can't control us both."

And then what would happen, Kyo thought to herself. Kurogiri would kill her, and Born This Way would disappear. He'd be able to catch up to Kujo and stop him. The only thing that had prevented her from being killed earlier was Kujo attacking. Without that, she would be finished. But she knew deep down, that Kurogiri was cold and rational. Realistically, he would retreat once one of them escaped, not willing to face the entire faculty.

"Kyo, stop wasting time. You don't like me, right? But you need to do this, and you're going to, like it or not. Use that logic of yours. This is your best option."

She… didn't want to. Petty though it may be, she didn't want him riding her Stand, it was _hers_. And he was just a fucking corpse that couldn't stay down. If it were Yoshikage here they wouldn't _be_ in this mess, he'd have killed Kurogiri easily. Where did the zombie get off telling her what to do? But… did she have to? If it was the only option, then she couldn't afford to keep deliberating, or letting her emotions get in the way, could she… She reached into herself, and started to-

A grey projectile, too fast to see clearly, flew through the air, and into **Surface**, knocking it to its knees. A warp gate appeared behind it, and it leapt through, back into the safety of Kurogiri's obscuring mist.

Kyo grinned, despite herself. She was released from the Stand's hold, and she didn't even have to let Kujo ride her own. It was over. Reinforcements had arrived. She knew Snipe fought with guns, so that projectile… the faculty had arrived. She strained to see them, but the group in the doorway was obscured by the shadow from the giant doors. She could see their silhouettes, but… why were there only five of them?

The group stepped out of the shadow, and Kyo's heart plummeted into her stomach. The person who'd fired the bullet wasn't Snipe, but a green haired girl, whose hand was still transfigured into a gun. But the one that had really caught her eye… was her niece.

Leading the group was Jolyne Kujo; one of America's Most Wanted. The villain known as Stone Free.

* * *

**Just a warning: there will be character death. I've already trying to somewhat mimic JJBA with gore, but pretty soon this is gonna start looking like Part 5 in terms of the killcount.**


	11. USJ Part 2

Chapter 11 – USJ Part 2

"Shigaraki, we have a problem."

"Kurogiri… you didn't let any of them get away, did you?"

"No, but the people Whitesnake warned us about… they're here. Somehow they knew we would be here, right now. Between them and the students, they have at least six Stand users. We don't stand a chance in a straight fight, especially since..."

The two of them looked over at the Nomu they'd brought with them, laid flat on the ground. All Might stood before them with his ever present smile. His breathing was heavier than when he'd started the fight, but not by much. He'd barely broken a sweat. Much like their Nomu, Eraserhead was also on the ground, not having been able to keep up with the fight between the two juggernauts.

"Dammit, were we lied to? All Might isn't weaker at all! Looks like it's a game over for us."

"Shigaraki, wait. We still have an advantage. All Might doesn't have a Stand, but we do."

"Kurogiri… you know I can't-"

"I'm aware you need more practice before you can deploy your Stand. But I'm already using mine. Why do you think he's just standing there and letting us talk? Quickly, while I have him frozen, use your Quirk."

The leader of the villains grinned, stretching his scarred and chapped lips. The way his teeth were bared, he looked almost feral.

* * *

"That guy with the warp Quirk… he a Stand user?"

"Yeah… it's called **Surface**. It can take a person's appearance, and then control their movements."

"Like a voodoo doll or some shit. Alright. You seen any of the other villains?"

"No. Just him. There are probably other Stand users. I don't think that guy was the leader."

Mina was confused. The leader of the newcomers and Kira were talking to each other like they knew one another, but she'd personally never seen the lot of them before. She was confident they weren't teachers. She raised a tentative hand into the air.

"Um… excuse me, but who exactly are you? And how'd you know to come here?"

Kira grimaced. "You don't have to talk about that. Just ignore any questions."

"No, we were aware this would come up." The woman Kira had been talking to turned to regard her with a cold expression. "My name is Jolyne Kujo- or Kujo Jolyne, or whatever. If you don't want to call me by name, you can refer to me by my villain name: Stone Free, after the name of my Stand. I'm wanted for murder, multiple counts of illegal Quirk usage, illegal Stand usage, and assault and battery, as well as breaking out of prison."

"And probably other stuff!" Interjected a green haired girl. "We get up to so much, it's hard to keep track." It was only just occurring to Mina that the other people the woman had brought with her were looking largely disinterested in the conversation. Only the green haired girl even seemed to be paying attention. They all looked foreign, and somewhat confused, maybe they just didn't understand what was being said.

"Yeah, thanks Foo. Anyway, I found about this attack before it happened, through one of my contacts. I have a grudge against one of the villains working with this group, so I'm going to kill some of the villains already gathered here and try to get information from the leaders. That answer all of your questions?"

Kujo- Kujo Josuke, that is- had been frowning more and more as Stone Free was talking. "I may not know the law incredibly well, but I'm pretty sure we can't let you do that..."

"Shut up." Kira said. "Legally speaking, we can't fight them. That'd make us vigilantes. Also, they're offering to solve our problem. Just let it happen."

"Well, that's true..." Mina said. She didn't feel comfortable letting these new villains go on a killing spree, but it was better that the other villains died than the students, right? "We can just go get help now, right? I mean, that mist guy isn't bothering us. If they... do what they're gonna do, there isn't much we can do about that. So long as they don't attack us, we can't attack them."

"Glad you're seeing reason." Stone Free turned to Kujo. "Well? You haven't put your Stand away. You gonna force this issue, kid?"

"Kujo… come on, just let it go. Don't cause problems, we have enough already." Mina was practically begging him at this point. "I dunno about you, but I think _any _help is welcome right now. This is just a really bad situation, right?"

The boy sighed. "Fine. I don't like it, but whatever. Do what you will."

The woman, on the other hand, was staring at the boy. "I'm sorry, did she call you Kujo? Who are you, exactly? Are you related to Kujo Jotaro in some way?"

"In a way. I'm Kujo Josuke, I'm Jotaro's… brother. Sort of. How are you connected with him?"

Kira sighed. "She his daughter. Which makes you her 'sort of' uncle, and me her aunt. I'm sure the police won't have _any_ concerns that we let her go because of that."

Stone Free was glancing between both of them now. "Wait, Kyo, I don't understand. He's says he's my uncle, and now that I think about it, he looks kinda like Yoshikage..."

"It's complicated." Kira and Kujo said in unison.

"This… we'll need to talk about this later. But we _will_ be meeting again. For now… we have some battles to fight." Stone Free turned to the people behind, and barked out something in English. They all brought out wide pieces of paper, that needed to be held in two hands.

* * *

"Ugh, why did these idiots spread their Stand users all over the damn place." Annasui was studying the map they'd received from the old guy. Four bright red dots showed the locations of the enemy Stand users.

They'd all split up and gone to confront the Stand users the map showed them. The area Hermes and Annasui specifically were going to was the ruined city zone, according to the map.

"_Hey, who are you two_?"

"Oh, gimme a break. Hey, Hermes. You've been goin' along with that stupid studying shit Emporio set up right? What the fuck are they saying?"

"They're asking who we are." She turned to the two who'd addressed her, a blond kid with grenade gauntlets on his wrists and another boy with white and red hair. "Uh… _We not your enemies_."

"Don't get fancy, just tell them we aren't their enemies."

"That's what I literally just said, jackass."

"_I_ didn't know that. Ask about Stand users."

"Jesus christ, Annasui, stop back seat conversing."

"That's not a thing."

"I just _made_ it a thing." She cleared her throat and started walking towards the boys. "Have you seen-?" Wait, she just said that in English. "_See Stand users_?"

"I dunno what you're saying, but it's sounds like you're saying it wrong."

"Oh shut up, I'm no good at this shit. They get what I'm trying to say. Probably."

"_Yeah_." The blond kid raised his hand and pointed to a tall building near them. "_Over there_."

"_His Stand is named __**Atom Heart Father**__, and it __uses a camera__, in order to __trap you in a photograph__._" The boy with multi-coloured hair added.

"_No understand. Is fine. Have Stand._" She turned to Annasui. "One's in that building, Stand's called **Atom Heart Father**. Let's go."

"Wait. Why are these two standing around here? If they know there's a Stand user in that building, why aren't they attacking, or running away? They may know something about his ability."

"Shit, Annasui, I dunno how to ask that. I'm pretty sure they just told me the ability, and I didn't understand what they said anyway. If it were so important to ask for information, _you _should've gone through the lessons."

Though Annasui grumbled, he followed her into the ruined building. Hermes checked out the ground floor, but there was no one inside.

The stairs leading further up were destroyed, but Annasui was able to use **Diver Down** to reshape the rubble into steps. The second floor was empty, and so was the third. They'd thought the same of the fourth, but when they stepped up to the giant hole in the wall, they were able to see the two boys they'd spoken to earlier. Both were waving frantically, pointing to them.

A flash came from behind them, though as far they could tell nothing occurred as a result. They turned around, and brought their Stands out, just in case.

"Is… why is there a camera floating in mid-air? Is this related to the enemy's Stand?" Hermes had to ask.

Annasui immediate response wasn't verbal, but rather a scowl directed at the camera. "Look closer, Hermes. The colours behind the camera are shifting around. Their body is camouflaged, but they couldn't extend it to the camera. That camouflage, that's why we weren't able to see them when we entered. The camera was so small, we overlooked it, until we saw the flash. Whatever his ability is... he's already used it."

A cackling emanated from behind the camera. "_Thank you for posing in front of the hole! Now my __**Atom Heart Father**__ has you in its picture, as well as the brats in that city! Shigaraki will love that I got so many hostages!_" Hermes translated what she could for Annasui.

He barked out a laugh. "If we're going to be hostages, shouldn't you have defeated us first? **Diver Down**!"

The Stand rushed towards the camouflaged villain, but the punch it threw crashed directly into an invisible wall between them and their opponent. The villain dropped his camouflage, to reveal himself as a mutant with a chameleon Quirk. He took the photo out of the camera and smirked at them.

"Hah! _That picture I took of you? You're trapped within its confines, until Shigaraki and Kurogiri come by to take you all with them. We'll use you all as leverage! Once you're stuck inside my picture, my Stand is undefeatable!_"

Once Hermes finished relaying this (sans the part about leverage, as she wasn't able to understand it,) Annasui grinned. "We're trapped in that photo, huh?"

"_Yeah! And if you get troublesome, I'll just rip the picture and kill you!_"

A fist flew out of the picture and crashed into the chameleon's face. "_Wha- how?!_"

"Annasui, that punch **Diver Down **threw into the picture's confines… are you somehow able to use your ability to put your Stand's attack into the picture itself?"

"Yeah. These barriers trapping us, they function as a part of the photo. Since **Diver Down** can go into objects, this fight is over." To illustrate the truth of his words, his Stand threw another punch into the barrier, and another fist flew out of the photo, smashing into the chameleon's gut. "He can't get that photo far enough away to avoid my attacks. He's finished."

The villain grimaced. "_Your ability… it's a great counter to my own, but worthless __if this picture isn't near me._" He threw the photograph straight at them, but the second it met the barrier, it disappeared.

"Wait, what happened? Annasui, the barrier still there?"

He pressed a hand to the barrier. "Yeah… but the picture is somewhere else."

"If we're stuck in here… maybe anything that goes into the barrier from the outside can get to the other side? It's not just trapping us inside, it's keeping others from entering. The space outside the picture fills the void left by the area taken _out_ of space." She hummed. "If that's the case, then you can just use your Stand to knock the picture back over to this area. Punch the ground and send the picture flying back."

"I'm not sure. It'll be difficult to find the right angle, since I can't see where the photo wound up. I'll try, but I can't be sure it'll work. Can you think of anything you can do?"

"Yeah, I've got an idea. But we both need to get out of this building, and the stairs are outside the confines of the picture."

Annasui leaned out the hole in the wall, and started pummelling the wall with his Stand. **Diver Down**'s fists began popping back out from the wall, and the two used them as a ladder, hopping from one fist to the next, until they reached the ground.

"Alright, what're you gonna do now?"

"That picture was taken from the halfway point of the room. That means that half of the building is still accessible to us." She rushed back into the room through the door. "**Kiss**!"

Her Stand put stickers into each of the support columns on the ground floor, copying them. Then Hermes grabbed each sticker and ripped it off. The columns smashed back together, and broke apart where the stickers had been removed. The structure began groaning; a mild sound at first, but it soon had them both covering their ears.

"Out, now!" She didn't know if Annasui heard her, but he got the cue either way, and ran out the exit. She was hot on his trail.

Outside, they could see the building tip. Unfortunately, it was tipping towards them.

"Dammit, Hermes, couldn't you pay attention to where you put the stickers?"

"I _did_! It should be falling the other way! I don't know why- no, wait, the barrier! It can't fall the other way, it's stuck in the picture."

The building started to fall, but just in time, a veritable iceberg crashed into its side, keeping it off of them. They turned around to see the two boys they'd met earlier. The multi-coloured one had his foot at the base of the iceberg.

"_We saw that he took a new photo. We were able to come closer because of that. Is he still alive?_"

Hermes skirted the side of the building, and looked at it. Only the fall of half of the building had been halted. The half that was part of the photo. The other half had apparently fallen with the half in the photo, but one it crashed into the barrier it disappeared. According to her theory, it would have finished its fall on the other side of the picture. Waving an arm out to check, she found the barrier still in place. They were all still trapped inside the picture. She ran back to the others.

"_Other side._" She pointed to the opposite end of the ruined city. "_Need go, villain now there._"

The blond boy picked up a rock, and fired it at the other end with an explosion from his palm. It soared through the air for hundreds of metres, before crashing mid-air.

The other kid turned to him. "_What was that for?_"

The blond grabbed Hermes' arms and placed them around his neck, before grinning. "_So I don't crash into the barrier of course._" He pointed his palms behind him, and the explosions sent him flying into the air at insane speeds, Hermes on his back. Her hair whipped about in the wind, and her eyes were drying out at an absurd rate.

When they landed, she was barely able to walk. Her legs were like jello.

"_Never_…_ never again._" She whimpered.

Where they'd set down, she could see the remains of the building she'd sent tumbling. The chameleon was on the ground, blood pooled around him. Rubble was stuck all through his body. The picture was nowhere to be seen, presumably buried beneath the rubble.

Annasui soon met up with them, riding a wave of ice, courtesy of the other student.

"I think his Stand is still active despite his death. Take a new picture with the camera."

"I have no idea where the photo is, so I can't see the right angle to punch with."

"Uh, just punch at random? You'll figure out where the photo is, _then_ you can use **Diver Down **to move it to the camera."

"Oh. Right."

Annasui sent **Diver Down **into the confines of the photo again, and outside the barrier, an arm blasted up through the rubble.

"There it is."

He punched again and again, using **Diver Down**'s arms to scooch the picture closer to the chameleon's corpse. When the picture was in range of the villain, he shot back up, and grabbed it.

"_You_… _you're all to much trouble. I'll just rip this photo and find new hostages!_" He placed his hands on either side of the photo, ready to tear it.

"**Diver Down**!" The Stand's hands came out of the picture, and grabbed the camera around the chameleon's neck. It angled it down at the ground and snapped a new picture.

The chameleon ripped the photograph of the ruined city, but it was too late. The Stand had changed targets to the new picture.

Hermes began walking towards the enemy villain, no longer impeded by any barriers. The chameleon tried to take a step back, but when he moved, his legs slid straight off of his feet. He fell hard, his ass cracking on the cement.

"That new photo, it must have caught your feet in its confines. Like the building, you were partially inside and partially outside the photo. You still had stability and physical integrity while you were stationary, but once you moved that changed." She took stock of his uncomprehending stare. She _had_ to remember to speak in Japanese here. Well, whatever.

"**Kiss**!" Her Stand appeared behind her, and began affixing stickers all over the chameleon's head. He had almost twenty new heads before she ripped all of the stickers off. They merged back together, but the breaks where the stickers were removed proved too much, and his head cracked open in several places. Skull fragments and brains spilled out over the floor. It was so quick, his head wounds barely had time to bleed.

There was a retching sound behind her. Turning around, she saw the blond boy bent over, expelling his lunch all over the floor, while the multi-coloured kid stared, aghast.

"_He was already defeated and y__ou…__ you just kill-_" The boy's sentence was cut off when the all the lights in the building began to flicker, and slowly die. Somewhere on the horizon, on top of a mountain, Hermes saw a massive golden glow.

* * *

"This looks like the mountain zone." Iida said. "Is your phone leading us here?"

"Not my phone. My Stand. The phone is just a conduit. If **Paisley Park **is leading us here, there must be other students in this zone."

A buzzing sound emanated from ahead, like a swarm of bees, or a bunch of phones set to vibrate. The scent of ozone filled Yasuho's nose.

"They must be up ahead, where that buzzing is coming from! It must be Kaminari… or maybe one of the villains has an electric Quirk."

"Hirose, what are you talking about? I don't hear a thing."

"Huh? But I hear- and smell- something electrical up ahead. You don't hear that buzzing? At all?"

"No, I-" He paused, and turned to look at her, his eyes wide in sudden fear. "Does that mean... one of the enemies has a Stand?"

She froze. Possessing a Stand meant she could see others, so she was at an advantage compared to most other people, but **Paisley Park** wasn't at all suited for fighting. And the only thing that could harm a Stand was another one. It hadn't been a problem at all while they were making their way out of the storm zone, as she and Iida were able to quickly dispatch all of the villains they came across with only their Quirks, but if there were enemy Stand users here, they wouldn't be able to hold out for very long.

"What I wouldn't give to have Josuke with us right about now."

"It's been a while since we were teleported, so if the villains here have a Stand user, they should have won by now. The only logical explanation is that one of the students sent here is, by chance, _also_ a Stand user."

She grinned a little, despite herself, and straightened up. Maybe Josuke _would _be here. She started to jog up the hilltop, towards the buzzing sound, but came to a screeching halt once she crested the hill and saw who was on top.

Joshu was covered in sweat, his bowl cut sticking to his face. A short yellow avian-esque Stand took a swipe at him with a hand that crackled with electricity. He barely got out of the way in time. In a way, he didn't- electricity arced into a dribble of sweat and up into Joshu's face. He gasped and whimpered, but kept moving backwards, trying to get a bit of space from the enemy Stand. Unfortunately, his opponent didn't seem willing to give any. The birdlike Stand pressed its advantage, going straight for Joshu and pulling its arm back for another shocking blow. Time for a hail mary.

Yasuho pressed her palms together to make a nozzle, and called on her Quirk, sending a stream of water in between the Stand and Joshu. While the Stand's fist passed straight through the water, the electricity it carried did not. The stream carried past the two combatants, bringing the electric current with it. It may have come back and shocked Yasuho, but she had learned from her fight with Kaminari in the 2v2 battles, and stopped emitting water just before it hit the Stand. None of the water was touching her by the time the electricity entered it, and thus it didn't conduct it back to her. It fizzled out harmlessly against the ground where the water hit.

"Y-Yasuho! Oh thank God, I'm saved! Uh, not that I was having trouble. I was just trying to lull him into a false sens-"

"Oh shut it. Why haven't you taken him out with **Nut King Call** yet?"

Joshu pouted at her dismissal. "He's too damn fast. I can't land a blow. But hey, now that you're here, you can help!"

She glanced over to where the other students were. Tokoyami and Mineta were inside a circle of Mineta's balls. Tokoyami's Dark Shadow kept sweeping out to knock back any villains that got too close. Maybe it was just her eyes playing tricks on her, but for some reason it seemed like it was bigger and meaner than usual.

Mineta was practically hyperventilating. "This is the worst day _ever_!"

"Iida, don't worry about the Stand stuff, leave that to us. Go help those two."

"On it." He sprinted over to their classmates, engines firing. Once he got near enough, he roundhouse kicked a villainous straggler in the head.

Turning her attention back to the Stand fight, Yasuho sent out yet another jet of water at the enemy Stand, and yet more of its electricity was absorbed into the water. It had turned brown, and this time, when **Nut King Call **threw a blow, it wasn't able to dodge in time. Part of its left hand came off, a bolt visible in the palm. The villain Yasuho assumed to be the Stand's user stepped towards her, his own palm outstretched, blood gushing from it. As with the Stand, the pinky and ring finger had been severed.

"You bitch. You think you're so great with that water Quirk, huh? I promise, that's the last strike you're gonna get on me. **Red Hot Chilli Pepper**!"

The Stand returned to its user's side, and in seconds, it was gold and glowing yet again. It stretched out its hand and touched the villain's wound, cauterising it instantly. She felt a little sick for it, but the scent of cooking meat in her nose made her salivate. The smell only grew when the Stand reached down and picked up the user's severed fingers.

It started speeding towards her. It was fairly obvious what her next move would be, but she fired out a jet of water anyway. He would no doubt expect it, but it wasn't as though she had any other option. With the Stand coming towards her, it had become an easy target. She had opened her palms up, switching from a closed, high pressure nozzle to a wide stream, one that almost totally engulfed the Stand, seeing how close it was. Once the stream passed, **Red Hot Chilli Pepper** had turned brown yet again, and its movements had turned sluggish and hesitant. But it drew back an arm nonetheless, and pitched the fingers it had grabbed straight at her. The Stand had grown weak, so the fingers didn't quite reach her. Instead, they hit the ground, bounced, and came to a stop a few inches before her feet.

**Red Hot Chilli Pepper** swooped down by the fingers, while Yasuho backed away in an attempt to put distance between her and whatever the enemy had planned. From the severed parts, lightning crackled, before arcing upwards and filling the nearby Stand with power. It was back to full strength almost immediately, and much too close. Faster than she could see, it closed the distance with her, and slammed a fist into her gut. She fell on her back, gasping and writhing.

"Yasuho! You bastard, I'll kill you!"

"Can't you see how close my Stand is to her? You won't be able to close the distance with me before _I _kill _her_."

Joshu grit his teeth, but remained where he was.

"My Quirk and my Stand work in perfect tandem. You discovered **Red Hot Chilli Pepper**'s weakness quickly enough. It requires electricity from another source, and uses that to power itself. Usually, that would be quite the limitation. However, my Quirk allows me to generate and manipulate electricity. I can block communications out of the building, and I can supply my Stand with all the power it needs." He laughed. "When I saw my fingers about to be severed, I pumped electricity into them with the generating aspect of my Quirk, and waited to release it with the manipulating aspect until **Red Hot Chilli Pepper **was close enough to strike you."

He strolled forward, keeping a peripheral view of Joshu in case he tried anything.

"Losing those fingers was my fault really. From here on, I'll use the wound as a constant reminder not to get complacent. So long as I stay cautious and keep from being surprised, I can defeat anyo-"

A projectile crashed into his shoulder, spinning him ninety degrees and knocking him flat on his backside. The spasms were starting to wind down, but Yasuho still wasn't able to turn her head to see the newcomer. The man started to get back up, and by her side she could his Stand starting to move too. Luckily for her, several more projectiles came streaking by, and the villain had to recall his Stand to his side in order to deflect them.

Joshu rushed over to her side, **Nut King Call** hovering protectively over her in case **Red Hot Chilli Pepper** tried something again. After a couple of seconds, she was able to sit up, although she had to take it slow, since her gut still hurt from the strike she took.

She craned her head to get a good look at her rescuer, and saw… a complete stranger. Some green haired woman in overalls. Her finger was transfigured into a gun barrel of sorts, and was pointing straight at the villain they'd been fighting.

"This is a surprise! We already saw two Stand using students at the entrance, so I didn't think there'd be even more. Wait, unless Stands are normal here."

The woman had a slight accent, but she spoke Japanese well in spite of it. Yasuho told her as much.

"Thanks! Jolyne already knew a little, and Emporio is smart, so they figured it out easy. But we were surprised when I did well at it. Hermes says I can 'just absorb anything, so who even cares' but then Jolyne said she was just jealous, and they started saying things like 'look, I'm Hermes and I can't figure out the difference between the subject marker and the topic marker' and 'ooooh, I'm Jolyne and I get horny all the time, has it been twenty minutes since I mentioned how horny I am, 'cause I'll probably die if I don't tell everyone' except it was the other person saying that in both cases, and I wasn't really sure why, so I asked if we were playing some sort of game, and Annasui said yes, and the only the way he could win was if he died without ever having to see me aga-"

"Okay, _please_ stop talking. I get it. Yeesh." Joshu said.

Yasuho was tempted to agree, but she was still feeling pretty grateful, and thus chose to be more diplomatic. "Are you a Stand user too?"

"Yeah! Wait, you too? What're the odds of four Stand users being in the same class?"

"One in one hundred forty-eight million, nine hundred thirty-six thousand, one hundred and seventy. According to the UN, there are forty-seven Stand users in the world right now, and seven billion people." Iida interjected, from within Mineta's ball circle. Everyone turned to look at him. "I wondered the same thing after our first day, so I did the math."

The sound of someone clearing their throat caught everyone's attention.

"This little chat is cute and all, but aren't you forgetting something?" The villain had recovered and was glaring at them all, his Stand impatiently tapping its foot next to him. It looked pretty weird, since the Stand was floating in mid-air.

"Hi! I'm Foo Fighters, also called Foo or FF for short! What's your Stand called?"

"**Red Hot Chilli Pepper**. And it will be your end."

"Cool!" FF fired more projectiles at the man from her finger gun, but his Stand deflected them easily enough with its fists.

The villain appeared to deem FF the biggest threat, or just the easiest target, because **Red Hot Chilli Pepper **went flying towards her.

"Don't let it touch you!" Yasuho called out, forming another nozzle with her hands and sending a jet of water towards **Red Hot Chilli Pepper**. The villain had apparently seen it coming, since the Stand ducked the stream without slowing down. With the pace it moved at, it was in front of FF in seconds. She tried to move backwards, but the Stand was just too quick, and it buried a fist into her side. She writhed and fell down, but **Red Hot Chilli Pepper** pressed the advantage and followed her to the ground, sinking its other hand, the maimed one, into her gut. Yasuho sent another stream of water into the Stand. It was stationary now, so her attack made contact, but it came too late. Smoke was rising from the woman's body, and she was no longer spasming.

"Ha! You underestimated me. I told you my Stand would end you. And now…" The villain turned back to Yasuho and Joshu. "I'm going to _finally_ finish the two of you off-"

Blood sprayed out of his mouth and he doubled over, hands over a new red hole in his gut. A second one appeared, and then another one in his bicep. All were the same shape and size as the one in his shoulder.

Yasuho looked back over to Foo Fighters, only to see her alive, with her hand gun pointing straight up. **Red Hot Chilli Pepper** was right above her, and she was firing into him point blank.

The villain staggered and fell to his knees as the dead woman rose back up on her own. Her finger was pointed straight at him. At this range, with all of its electricity dispersed by Yasuho's water stream, **Red Hot Chilli Pepper** had no chance of reaching him in time to deflect FF's attacks.

"It's over." Yasuho breathed this, more than she said it.

The villain heard her anyway, and let out a low chuckle. "Over? No… I told you already, didn't I? **Red Hot Chilli Pepper** powers itself by taking electricity. And this place is full of it!"

The round lights surrounding the ceiling started to flicker, and lightning arced out of the walls and into the villain's Stand. In just a few seconds, they were in complete darkness, but for the blinding glow of the Stand.

"Normally, **Red Hot Chilli Pepper** would have to get close to some sort of electrical line to draw power from the entire facility, but as I mentioned, my Quirk lets me manipulate electricity."

Next to Yasuho, Joshu's Stand was busy punching the ground. She hoped he had a plan, because she didn't think her Quirk would be enough to disarm the enemy any more.

"Just as I prevented the alarms from going off while standing right here on this mountain, I can draw the power through myself from right here. _I _am the conduit." The enemy continued, ignoring Joshu's behaviour.

**Red Hot Chilli Pepper** rushed over to Yasuho and Joshu, arm raised. Lightning swirled around the fist, promising to burn them to a crisp in an instant.

"**Nut King Call**!" A square section of the ground rose up in front of them, taking the attack meant for them. Looking down, Yasuho saw the square had been affixed to the ground with nuts and bolts courtesy of Joshu's Stand. It'd been raised from the earth in much the same method. All around them, more squares rose up, slotting in snugly next to one another. First the sides, then the back, and finally **Nut King Call** affixed a square to the top in order to make a ceiling. They were in an earthen box, insulated from their opponent's wrath.

"Joshu… I can't believe I'm saying this, but you saved us! We're safe… for the moment."

"For the moment?"

"This can't last. He'll attack the others… we need to use this time to come up with a plan, and quick. Before he kills them."

"Uh, why can't we just hide in here? I mean… can't always save everyone, right? Besides, we're all alone now..."

She glared at him. "Just when I think I've misjudged you. Wait… do you hear that?"

"Uh… no? What does it sound li-" He stopped, as the crackling sound grew louder.

A thought occurred to her. She was glaring at him. But they were in an earthen box with no light source, so how was she looking at him at all? She looked down at her wrist, where the light was coming from. Around her cellphone, electricity was sparking and swirling.

"Oh shit." Joshu said.

"Hahaha! You thought that'd keep me out?" The villain was speaking through his Stand, the head of it peeking out through her phone. "I can move along any electrical sources I like! You weren't able to close that box in time, and I sent a current into the phone while I was hitting the wall. Now you're trapped."

"No. _You're_ the one who's trapped. Didn't you wonder why I had a phone strapped to my wrist? Most of the time, my Stand isn't very strong. But you're in its territory now. **Paisley Park**!"

The screen flashed pink.

"Battery Low." A robotic voice chimed out. "Powering down."

The screen went black, and **Red Hot Chilli Pepper** disappeared. They were blind, bathed in darkess.

"You… used your Stand to kill the power?"

"Yeah. Shut up, it worked."

"Well, yeah, but it wasn't… I dunno, it just wasn't super cool. I was expecting more after all that build up, I guess."

"Just open the box so we can beat this guy up, already."

"Now that sounds like a cool way to end this."

When Joshu opened the box, only the faintest amount of light returned. **Red Hot Chilli Pepper** had been brought back out, by the villain's side. It glow was much more subtle now, it having lost all of the power it absorbed from the USJ when it was vanished. Now it was back to running off of what it got from its user's Quirk.

"This isn't over… I'm going to kill you!" The man rushed forward, his Stand following right behind him.

"N-no! I can't! I can't control it!" Somewhere away from them, one of the boys without a Stand was shouting something incomprehensible. "Dark Shadow, stop!"

Within the darkness, one of many mountains in the mountain zone was twisting and shaking. It rolled over, and Yasuho saw a glowing orange eye half again her size.

"**This ends now!"** The colossus boomed, before sweeping out over the villain. He was swallowed by the darkness, and even the light from his Stand was extinguished. Yasuho only heard him shrieking for a few seconds. **"Not enough…"** The monstrous shadow moaned. **"N****eed more… kill more..."**

The demented rambling was cut short by the building's lights flickering on. In the new light, Yasuho saw Tokoyami's Quirk grown to massive proportions, one of its unfurled wings reaching out to touch the end of the zone. It looked half mad, shivering and growling, but as a few seconds passed with the lights on, it was starting to calm down.

"Tokoyami, you alright?"

"Not quite, but the light is helping."

"That's good to hear. Just don't eat us, alright?"

"Noted."

Joshu came up to her.

"We make a pretty good team, huh Yasuho? Maybe when we graduate, we can work as partn-"

"Forget it."

Back over by the others, Mineta was reassuring Tokoyami.

"We're all good. It's over, don't worry."

"That's easy for you to say… I just… I just killed that man."

"Remember Tokoyami!" Iida said, chopping his hands up and down. "Most Stand battles are a fight to the death, and few Stand users can be taken prisoner. You've done nothing out of the ordinary, as far as these sorts of things go."

Foo Fighters limped up next to him and patted him on the shoulder. "He would have killed your friends, and you. Hell, he almost killed me. Speaking of..." She made her way over to Yasuho, careful to keep an eye on her footing, so that she didn't trip due to her limp.

Now that she was closer, Yasuho could see how heavily burned she was. How she was even alive, Yasuho had no clue.

"Aw don't give me that look. I've survived an electric chair before, this was a walk in the park! But you know what'd get me back to full health?" The woman grinned. "Water. I saw that Quirk of yours… spare some for your newest friend?" She asked, opening her mouth and pointing in.

Yasuho had hoped she was done with using her Quirk. It dehydrated he to use it for extended periods of time, and her throat was already scratchy as all hell. But if FF could be healed from it, she needed it more. Yasuho aimed her palms at the woman's mouth and started filling her up.

The results were immediately apparent. FF's burns began to disappear, and her skin turned a much healthier shade. The change was notable in other areas too, much to Yasuho consternation. FF's chest began to expand. Next to her, Joshu started sputtering like a poorly maintained lawnmower, his eyes fixated on the woman.

"Okay, I think that's enough."

"No, wait Yasuho, I think she needs more. A lot more."

She stopped the stream anyway. "Nope. I need to check on Tokoyami. Like, right now. So sorry, gotta stop."

She was gonna have to charge her phone back up. Pictures of puppies would chase that memory out of her mind. Pictures of puppies to help her forget FF's puppi- no, stop, bad Yasuho. She _had_ to stop spending any time at all with Joshu.

"I change my mind." Mineta said. "This is the _best_ day ever."

Joshu snickered. "You said it!"

Gross, gross, gross… the last thing she needed was these two becoming friends.

"Tokoyami! How are you doing? Please help me drown out anything these guys are saying."

"I must agree with Hirose!" A scarlet faced Iida said.

"I'm doing better… the lights help."

"Huh… Come to think of it, how do you suppose they came back on?"

"Maybe… a back up generator?"

* * *

Momo looked at the metal line she'd made. With a few adjustments, it'd been connected to the power grid Kirishima had dug up in the landslide zone, where they'd found themselves. It wasn't perfect, however. Her Quirk let her make a charger, of sorts, but it still required a power source. Thankfully, they had that too.

"How long do I have to hold this thing?" Kaminari asked.

"Until the teachers come around and give the all clear." Jirou said, laughing to herself. "Just be a good battery and keep the lights on."

She might feel a little bad for him... but she also wasn't about to fight any villains in the dark.


	12. Stone Free & Weather Report vs Surface

Stone Free & Weather Report vs Surface

All Might was laying on the floor, looking for all the world like he was resting, but the bed he slept in was made of blood. Or something like that, Jolyne never was good at poetry. She could tell by the movement of his chest that he was still alive, but a closer examination proved his breathing to be ragged and oddly paced. The blood pooled about him in every direction, but it wasn't gushing out. At some point, it had slowed to a trickle.

"Weather. Hit those two. Buy me some time."

He didn't question it, just sent a powerful gust of wind into the villains gathered before them. Jolyne rushed to All Might's side, and brought out **Stone Free**. His wounds were so extensive she had to sacrifice a rib to make all the stitching required. If Pucci found out she'd opted for such obvious Judeo-Christian symbolism, she'd die of embarrassment. That priest would be insufferably smug.

Jolyne wasn't a doctor, but even she could tell the wounds weren't from a sharp or blunt object. There were no cuts, no bruises. It was as though his skin had simply vanished. Was it a Stand, or a Quirk? Either way, one of their enemies was able to land what looked like it could be a fatal blow on the world's greatest hero. They would have to be really damn careful.

Her stitching was unimpressive, to say the least. Sue her, she'd already admitted she was no doctor. It would hold for now though. She focused her breathing, and a golden glow spread throughout her body. It travelled out from her lungs, through her arms, down her fingers, and into All Might's wounds, tracing the path of the stitches she'd made. Those stitches were still a part of her, after all, and could conduct the ripple she possessed due to her family's Quirk.

All Might's wounds were healing, but she had no way to replenish all of the blood he'd lost. He had a chance now, however, and would just have to hold out until the battle was finished.

"Why… are you… helping me… Kujo?"

"Even a villain has to admire the number one hero." She bit back a cynical laugh.

All her life, she'd known her father was the world's third greatest hero. Star Platinum was a legend in his own right. But in her childish daydreams, she'd still defeated the evil villains while wearing a cape and shouting 'watashi ga kita'. Her father may have been Japanese, but that wasn't why she tried to learn the language so long ago. It was just the excuse she used, so no one had a reason to say, 'look, another try-hard All Might fan'. Deep down, she guessed all kids were the same.

Now she was the evil villain. The prison escapee. At some point in her life, she'd stopped trying to be All Might, and became an unsanctioned vigilante instead. Perhaps she was just being maudlin. There had been perfectly good reasons for her to flaunt the law, and those reasons were just as valid now as they were when she'd first begun her fight against Pucci.

She rose to her feet, and walked towards the pair of villains who were currently trying to keep a distance from Weather Report. Kurogiri, whom she'd seen at the entrance, and some freak covered in hands. Ugh.

"You know, I'm fine being a 'villain', but if I ever start dressing like that, I _hope_ some meddling do-gooder will take me down."

**Stone Free** appeared beside her, and both of the villains in front of her went on guard.

"Damn, and here I was hoping Mister Mist was the only Stand user here. Ah well." She grinned. "Guess I'll just have to kill you both, huh?"

She turned her arm into string from the elbow down, and whipped it towards the creep with the hands. The string wrapped around his ankle, and she jerked her arm back, yanking him off of his feet.

This guy had to be the one to attack All Might. Kyo had already told her about Kurogiri's abilities, and neither matched up to All Might's wounds. Which meant she'd have to try and finish him quick. She used her Quirk, and sent the ripple down the string and into the gross villain's foot, twisting his ankle so he wouldn't be able to put any weight on it.

He reached down towards the restraints around his ankle, palm outstretched. She willed the string to unravel, and pulled it back into her before he could touch it. If he was the one who defeated All Might, she had to be cautious. Judging by his movements, his ability had something to with touch. That might explain the freaky hand thing he had going on as well. It was pretty clear: under no circumstances could she allow him to touch her.

"So, what do I call you? 'The Amazing Freak'? 'The Handy Man'? Or just 'Ugly'?"

"Kurogiri, shut her up."

"As you wish, Shigaraki."

"Shigaraki? The fuck kinda villain name is-" Her mouth stopped moving. She tried to open it or close it, but it stayed in the same position it had froze in. Damn, this was Kurogiri's **Surface**, wasn't it?

Weather shot her a glance, and frowned. Holding his gaze, she glanced towards Kurogiri, and then back to him. Evidently, he picked up on her message, because the wind started whipping hard through the plaza. Her hair was getting blown out of place. Ugh, didn't Weather realise how long it took her to make those buns _and _the braid?

Either way, Kurogiri's fog was starting to dissipate, blown away by the winds. It was streaming off of him as fast as he could make it. Underneath it all, she could start to make out the silhouettes of two bodies. One male and one female. Kurogiri and **Surface**.

Her arm turned back into string. If she could trap Kurogiri with it, she could use the ripple on him. She'd have to get him in the head with it to knock him unconscious, but that was pretty much the only path she saw towards disabling his Stand.

The string crept out through the air towards him. She wasn't able to swing her arms, so she couldn't pitch it towards him, but she was still able to move it to an extent with her will. **Surface** only targeted her natural body, so when it was changed as a result of **Stone Free**'s interference, those changes couldn't be effected in the same way. This was shown by **Surface**'s form, being steadily uncovered from the fog by Weather's wind. The doppelganger's arm was still shaped like Jolyne's normal arm; it hadn't turned to string at all.

The string _still _wasn't going fast enough though. Shigaraki was limping over towards them. Or maybe crawling was a better word for it. He was on one foot and one knee, and his hands were propping him up while he stumbled closer. Wherever his open palms touched, the ground crumbled to dust. Was that his Stand?

While she knew he had a Stand from his reaction to **Stone Free**, she had yet to observe it, and this ability he was displaying seemed more like a Quirk. Maybe his Stand was very close range, or maybe it was entirely situational. No, that didn't make sense. These villains were gaining their Stands from Pucci. He wouldn't give them a Stand with too narrow a use, especially if they were supposed to fight All Might. Especially not when Shigaraki seemed like the one ordering Kurogiri around.

He was close to her string now, which was starting to sway wildly from the wind. His hand was outstretched, ready to sever the cord, and her arm with it. She couldn't let him do that, but without the full control of her body, she wouldn't be able to yank her arm away. Luckily, Weather had her back. The wind switched directions and became more focused, nailing Shigaraki in the face. On one foot, and having reached out to the string, thus no longer propping himself up with his hands, he was blown over onto his back. The new gust of wind had an unexpected result however, blowing her string arm directly into Shigaraki.

She used the opportunity to send more of the ripple into him, causing him to twist and writhe on the ground from the warping energy going through him.

"Dammit, Kurogiri, stop her breathing. **Surface** can do that, right? Make yourself more useful, already!"

Her breathing pattern became disrupted. From her vantage point, she could see her mirror image sucking in long breaths and holding them before slowly exhaling, then switching it up and hyperventilating. She had a way around it though. Her ribs all turned to string, and then coiled around her lungs. The string massaged the organs, pushing them together, and then tugged on them, pulling them apart. Her breathing was back on the right path now.

The ripple flowed back through her arm, and just in time. Shigaraki had sat back up, and gripped her arm string in between a few of his fingers. Before he was able to add his pinky and disintegrate the string, his fingers began twisting from the ripple. They bent backwards and to the side.

She was sure now. His disintegration ability was a Quirk, one that required him to lay all five fingers on his target. Dealing with that was simple. She just had to fuck up his hands. One down, one more to go.

She reeled her arm string back in. The attempt to get it on Kurogiri was a failure. She'd have to come up with something new. But Kurogiri and Shigaraki didn't seem to have any way of attacking them either. They appeared to be at somewhat of an impasse.

She looked at Weather, doing her best to beseech him with her eyes. Wasn't there something he could do apart from blow some wind around?

He sidled over to her, and leaned down to mumble in her ear. "_I've manifested a powerful hailstorm, but it'll be sometime before it breaks through the roof."_

Damn. Once the ceiling was opened, he could just target their enemies with lightning or something. He'd have so many more options for attacking. But how long could they maintain this holding pattern? She'd just have to keep delaying.

Then the lights cut out. Somewhere in the distance, a bright golden glow was casting light throughout the building, but it was much harder to see now. Especially since the new light source was so far away.

"Well, I see Red Hot Chilli Pepper has decided to get serious." Kurogiri said.

Wasn't that the mountain zone? Where Foo was supposed to be… Jolyne hoped her friend wasn't in over her head.

"But that's no concern for us. Maybe I can just kill you like this..."

Her arms rose, bringing her hands up to her throat, where they started to squeeze. Oh, come on, he had to know _that_ wouldn't work. Her wrists turned to string, causing her hands to fall limp by her collarbone. She looked at Kurogiri and raised an eyebrow, putting as much disdain into her gaze as possible.

The golden glow in the distance went out, and just like that they were almost totally bathed in darkness. She couldn't see her opponents anymore. Even Weather, who was right next to her was almost lost in the shadows. She strained to make out any shapes in the dim. An attack at this point was almost a certainty.

Wait, right in front of her! Something was moving… a hand! A hand was reaching out towards her, open palmed, right around chest height. Shit, Shigaraki. She _still_ wasn't able to move due to **Surface**'s interference. Underneath her shirt. she turned her chest into string, and arranged it so that there was a hole right where Shigaraki's hand was about to touch. He made contact, and dissolved a patch in her shirt, letting his hand slip in. He was only a few inches away from touching her heart.

"Huh? No flesh?" Came a murmur from in front of her. He was close to realising it.

The string shifted, and tightened around his wrist. She willed each side to pull to the opposite end. His hand twisted as the string cut into his wrist, and she could feel his fingers frantically grasping, hoping to catch and destroy some part of the makeshift guillotine. But his hand was caught, and it wasn't able to turn and grasp the strings holding it in place. Blood was sliding across her strings now, and dripping down from them onto her stomach. Shigaraki grunted with exertion. He was yanking his arm back, no longer trying to grab any of the strings, but instead to untangle his one good hand. He was pretty close to succeeding too. Since he was able to move his whole body, he had more force to pull with than her.

The string around her lungs continued to keep her breathing rhythmic, and she sent the ripple through the string around her opponent, warping Shigaraki's hand so that it was pulled back into her chest. The string had started to cut him even deeper. Rather than biting into the flesh, it was now grating against the bone, fracturing the sides and sawing off splinters.

Shigaraki was no longer just breathing heavy, he had started to scream. The ripple twisted his hand even further, and his wrist shook under the strain of the strings. Shigaraki let out a screech as the strings suddenly went lax. The severed hand fell down Jolyne's shirt, bouncing off of her stomach and onto the floor with a splat. She was going to need a _long_ shower. And some sort of cleaner that would get the blood out of her clothes.

The maimed villain fell backwards, and the lights came back on.

"Ah… that makes things… complicated." Kurogiri said, eyes focused on his compatriot's severed limb.

Jolyne pulled in a large breath. Her string being moved quickly by Weather's wind earlier had given her an idea. A part of her right lung turned into string, opening up a small hole. She forced a breath through it, made stronger and more direct by the small hole, which acted as a nozzle. The air pushed the string formed from her chest out to cover Shigaraki like a net before he could move out of the way. She willed the string to pull tight as it ensnared him. He was caught in a web of her making now.

She returned the hole in her lung to normal, and regulated her breathing again. The ripple flowed out through her string, and into Shigaraki. In a few seconds, he had become so warped he couldn't stand or even crawl. His limbs jutted out at odd angles: knees bending backwards, arms twisted into a pretzel, feet turned on their side.

She let go, and brought the string back into her body. They'd need someone to interrogate, after all.

A commotion came around to the side. She wasn't able to turn her head to look, but she heard a voice she recognised either way.

"_Hey, Jolyne!_" Annasui shouted in English. "_We killed that Stand user we were sent to, and we came back with a couple of brats-"_

"All Might!" Cried some boy's voice. A blond kid with gaudy grenade gauntlets rushed past her, and over to the wounded hero. "Are you alright? How the hell were you wounded?"

"Immobilised… by a Stand. Couldn't protect myself. Listen to me…"

"I'll go find a medic." The boy turned to look her in the eye, baring his teeth. "You the leader of this merry fuckin' bunch? If you kill the villains, fine. But don't let anyone touch a hair on his head. I'll hold you personally fuckin' responsible if he dies while I'm gone."

"No." All Might whispered. "I need to talk to you."

"Tell me later."

"Bakugou." The hero had reached out, grasping the student's collar, and pulling him down, to whisper in his ear.

"Well… touching as this is, I believe we'll be making our exit now." Kurogiri said. A portal appeared behind Shigaraki. "Come one, just roll over into it. One for- ah,_ I'll_ get you fixed up, but I can't fight four Stand users on my own. Let's g-"

A ball of ice crashed into the ground, right in front of Kurogiri.

"What on earth?"

Jolyne did her best to look upwards- no easy feat with her neck still frozen by **Surface**. Black spots danced in her vision, her eyes almost rolled so far up they almost rolled back into her head, but she was still able to make out a hole in the ceiling. Then another, and another, as more hail began finally breaking through the roof.

A bright light filled the room, followed by a loud rumbling from the sky. Kurogiri leapt backwards, careful to keep his obscuring mist around him. In the ground, near where he'd been standing, was a black scorch mark, sizzling while the concrete around it had turned to glass in a veiny pattern.

Another bolt of lightning came down, crashing in between Shigaraki and the portal behind him. He groaned, blinking his eyes to get rid of the afterimages left by the flash. Hermes and Annasui used the time to position themselves between the mutilated villain and the portal, preventing his escape.

A third bolt came down, driving straight into the midst of Kurogiri's fog.

Smoke began drifting up, almost indistinguishable from the black mist, but for how it rose into the air rather than coalescing about the villain. A red light flickered in the dark fog. Fire, Jolyne, realised. Something was burning, and since Kurogiri wasn't dead or unconscious, there was only one thing it could be.

She took a step forward, relishing her newfound freedom of movement. As she made her way to Kurogiri, a flaming wooden dummy fell forward out of the mist, crashing into the ground. It must have been **Surface**'s true form. A bound type Stand. Kurogiri was effectively Standless now, but his Quirk would let him escape. He couldn't be taken prisoner, by them at least.

She turned her hand into string, and whipped her arm forward, whipping the cord through the fog until it hit something solid.

"_Weather, lemme see what I've got a hold of, alright?_" Jolyne said in English.

The wind picked up, aided by the pressure Weather created outside. With the new ventilation in the ceiling, the gust he sent forward was much stronger than before, and it blew away the fog obscuring their enemy. Her string was wrapped around his shoulder. Well, that was close, but not quite what she wanted. She alternated between inching the string up towards the metal plate covering what she assumed to be his neck and head, and sending ripple through her string and into him whenever he tried to open a portal near himself. That way, she kept him from fleeing.

Finally, the cord reached a space in between the metal plates, and slipped in to constrict around his neck. She began to pull on it.

A white and red haired boy rushed over to her. "Wait. I know Bakugou said it's fine to kill them, but he isn't thinking right now. He's too shocked by All Might's condition. Look, w-what if that villain has information? We need to keep him alive, right?"

"Oh, kid, there's no 'what if' about it. He _definitely_ has information. But that warp Quirk would let him escape whenever he wanted. And with his Stand, which helped wound All Might, he could be a serious threat later on." Across from them, the villain in question was gurgling, the string cutting into his throat. Red was seeping out through the gaps in the armour.

"But why can't you just use Quirk restraints on him? You're a hero, right?"

Jolyne turned to look at him, an eyebrow raised. "Who on earth told you that?"

She pulled the string even tighter, and a cracking sound echoed from within the armour. Kurogiri's body went limp. The boy who'd been trying to dissuade her made a gagging sound and backed away from her.

"_Hermes, Annasui,_ _their ride is gone. Grab that one and let's-"_

"All Might!" The blond boy who'd spoken to her earlier was shouting something. Turning to look, Jolyne saw All Might on his back, staring at the ceiling. The boy was shaking him frantically. His chest wasn't moving.

"Shit!" She rushed over to the hero, and bent down. A couple of fingers on his throat showed her he had no pulse to speak of. _"Annasui! Get your ass over here!"_

"_What the fuck can I do?" _

"_Send _**_Diver Down _**_into his chest, get his heart pumping again! You can do that, right?"_

"_I dunno if that'll-"_

"_Just fucking do it, okay?"_

He jogged over to them, and summoned his Stand. It went into the hero, and pretty soon Jolyne felt a pulse. But All Might's eyes kept staring into the sky.

"_Shit, his lungs too! Make him breath!"_

"_Jolyne, I can't do that many organs at onc-"_

"_Fine, I'll do it!"_

She turned her hand into string, and sent it into All Might's mouth and down his his throat. She had to turn around after going down the wrong pipe and hitting the stomach, but she was able to put the string into his lungs. She moved it around, expanding his lungs outwards and pulling them back in some semblance of breathing.

But his eyes still didn't move. From behind her, she heard footsteps, but she didn't turn around to look. A hand closed around her shoulder.

"Heya Jolyne. Sorry I'm late."

"Foo! Can you-"

"Yeah, I'll send a few plankton into him, figure out what's wrong." True to her words, some tiny grey organisms began to drop down onto All Might's wounds, and slither through into his body.

Finally. They'd be able to fix whatever was wrong. They just needed a diagnostic.

"Jolyne… he..."

"What? Just tell me, so I can fix it."

"He's lost too much blood. There's barely _any _left. Not enough to keep him alive for a second, even with you two aiding his bodily functions."

"We can just do a blood transfusion or something, right?"

"No, Jolyne, you can't. He's dead."

A cackling came from behind them.

"Finally… the symbol of peace… I've succeeded, master… won't you be proud?"

Jolyne turned around, and glared at Shigaraki. "Your master is going to be every bit as dead, I fucking promise you. And so will you."

He shifted, craning his neck to look at her, since he couldn't position himself properly with his misshapen limbs.

"And how are you going to accomplish that, I wonder?"

"Are you as stupid as you are hideous? Look at the state of you. You can't run. And I broke your teleporter's neck. You're ours."

"Yeah… it was tough to reach it, what with these messed up arms. But I managed. I pressed the button. We had a backup plan, you see. Couldn't risk it all on Kurogiri."

"What button? The fuck are you talking about?"

"The panic button in my pocket. At this point, Whitesnake has already gotten my distress signal. Any second now, he'll-"

A bright light surrounded Shigaraki, and when it faded, he was gone. Across from her, Weather Report stirred, surprised.

"_Another warp Quirk? But, t__hat looked exactly like-"_

A loud bang sounded, and behind her, Foo shouted out in shock.

"_We're taking fire!"_ She shouted, just in time. Hearing another bang, and then a whizzing sound behind her, Jolyne turned a portion of her shoulder into string. The bullet passed harmlessly through it. She turned to get a good look.

Standing a ways away, but still in sight of the central plaza, the teachers of UA were assembled in the doorway.

"_Weather! Get us the fuck outta here!"_ She yelled.

Weather Report activated his Quirk, and a bright light surrounded them. When it faded, they were back at their home base, Emporio and the old man looking at them.

"_Well, certainly took you long enough. I was this close to going over there myself."_

Emporio's attention was grabbed by something else. "_Jolyne! You're covered in blood… and FF, you look like you're injured too!"_

The plankton colony waved it off. _"Just a bullet wound. And the guy was aiming to disable, not kill. It's nothing I can't handle."_

The old man looked Jolyne up and down. _"And if I'm not mistaken, that isn't Jolyne's blood, but someone else's. She lacks any sort of wounds. Tell me, how did my maps work?"_

Annasui crossed his arms and looked of to the side, but Hermes kicked him in the shin. He sighed, and turned back towards them all. _"They worked perfectly. We found all of our targets, and you were right about them being their in the first place."_

The old guy chuckled, rubbing at his beard. _"Well of course. _**_Hermit Purple_**_ doesn't make any mistakes… well, usually. And what about All Might? Did you prevent-"_

"_No."_ Jolyne sighed, and raised an arm to drag her hand through her hair. It was easier than usual. Weather's wind had completely blown her hair out of it's styling, and it was hanging loose around her head. She could barely think, her head was still spinning. The greatest hero in the world had died literally minutes ago.

"_I figured as much. I told the man he wouldn't last much longer; me and that 'Sir Nighteye' assistant of his. But that Italian kid puts a few new organs in him and he gets the idea in his head that he's invincible. Idiot." _Joseph shook his head, frowning. _"What's done is done. Did you get any information on Whitesnake's whereabouts? Or that healing Stand your contact mentioned, before he went dark? That could be the key to fixing Holly."  
_

_"No."_ She paused. She'd almost forgotten, what with everything that had occurred. _"__There was something weird though. Do you remember Yoshikage?"_

_"Of course I remember my grandson. What kind of question is_ _that?"_ Joseph frowned, looking at her closely. _"__Has something happened?"_

_"I'm not sure. There was this kid there, who looked oddly similar to him. His last name was Kujo, though. He said he was dad's brother. Kyo was there too, she confirmed it. Could you try and find out more information about him with **Hermit Purple**?"_

_"I was going to try and locate the villains we're after, but sure, this seems like something we need to look into as well."_


	13. Aftermath

Chapter 13 – Aftermath

"-but still, many people are voicing concern over whether or not Endeavor has what it takes to the number one hero in Japan. The fiery hero has only just now breached the top ten worldwide, as a result of both All Might's death and Star Platinum's coma. The greatest hero ever is a tough act to follow, and a large percentage of the populace are unsure if there are any heroes operating in Japan who could fill All Might's shoes. According to a poll conducted b-" The screen went black.

"Yasuho?" Josuke looked over to the girl, who held the remote in her hands.

"They aren't saying anything new. 'Society changed forever' this, 'All Might unreplaceable' that. I'm sick of hearing it."

"Agreed. It's a lot of pressure for the next generation of heroes." Kyo grumbled. "That is to say, us."

Josuke wasn't sure how to consider Kyo any more. Ever since they'd come across that Jolyne Kujo woman at the USJ, the normally stoic girl had turned even more taciturn. But, not in the same way that she had been. Rather than her unemotional poker face, she was frowning and furrowing her brow whenever she thought no one was looking. It was clear she had a lot on her mind, but he wasn't sure where to even begin to broach the topic.

"_Hey Kyo, wanna go sit down for tea with a wanted woman? It'll be a fun little family reunion."_

He didn't see that going over well. Was Jolyne even his niece, really? Yoshikage and Josephune were Jotaro's half brothers from his parents' new marriages. So was Jolyne their half-niece? Did that make her his double half-niece? Was that equivalent to one full niece? It's not like there was any sort of exchange rate for familial relations.

"_Bring in two half-nieces and get a full niece for no additional charge! Comes complete with a criminal record and a gang of foreign Stand users! Call now!"_

…He needed to get out of the apartment, he was starting to suspect being cooped up here wasn't good for him. That being said, he didn't want to go anywhere alone. It wasn't any fun doing that. But Yasuho and Kyo were shutting themselves in, not that he could blame them. He'd even take Joshu at this point, but the other boy had returned to Morioh for the remainder of their impromptu break.

He wouldn't be surprised if some of the students didn't end up returning at all. UA was taking a lot of heat over the USJ incident and All Might's death. Some tv personalities had even floated the idea of shutting the school down, but Principal Nedzu had managed to convince the government otherwise.

"_What happened is a tragedy. UA had a responsibility to protect it's students, and I won't argue with those who say that we could- or should- have performed better. But now, more than ever,"_ He'd said in his news interview. _"We need to focus on grooming the heroes of tomorrow. We need to take All Might's sacrifice and build off of it."_

Josuke wasn't sure it would result in much. He wouldn't say it out loud, but from having observed All Might during the brief period the man had been their teacher, and from what he'd seen on tv, he didn't think there was anyone who could take the hero's place.

* * *

The concrete block was ten feet tall, ten feet wide, ten feet long, and absurdly fuckin' heavy. It wasn't ornate or valuable. It didn't go with any structure. It was just big. Created by Cementos, it would require specialised machinery to move around and place without a Quirk. Or, barring that, at _least_ five people with decent strength enhancing Quirks standing around and lifting.

Katsuki had carried it from the grounds to the gymnasium by himself.

The principal was watching him; had been watching ever since Katsuki walked out of the USJ nearly fifty pounds heavier than he'd been when he entered.

"_You weren't my first choice… or my fifth, if I'm being honest." _The overgrown rodent had said. _"But now is not the time to worry about things like that, is it? You probably have questions for me."_

Hell yeah, he'd had questions. And even now, only a few had been answered. Trust a rat to be secretive.

He could still taste the blood in his mouth, and feel All Might's fingers around his chin, grip too strong to break free from even as the hero lay dying. He hadn't been able to close his mouth because of that grip.

"_Normally I'd use my hair… but we seem to have plenty of my DNA on hand right here."_ The hero had mumbled, forcing his reddened fingers into Katsuki's mouth. _"Swallow. Just do it. You don't need to understand now, that'll happen later. If you've ever trusted me, swallow."_

He'd complied. And his trust had been rewarded in a way he never could have imagined.

Katsuki dropped the concrete cube on top of the other ones, forming a pyramid shape like some brat at a cup stacking tournament. Finally. Even with his newfound strength, hauling all those fuckin' things had been a pain in the ass.

"Well Bakugou? You've got good control of one Quirk. Now show me how much of a handle you have on the other." Principal Nedzu called out to him.

He didn't bother responding. Fuckin' rat was wearing some heavy duty earplugs. Katsuki had to fumble around in his pockets for his own. He'd have to have something incorporated into his costume. He couldn't afford to blow out his eardrums, but he also couldn't afford to miss hearing vital information while on the job. Maybe some sort of electronic capable of blocking out noises over a certain decibel level? Whatever, he'd think about it later.

Once the plugs were inserted into his ears, he took aim at the pyramid. The world went white for a moment, and there was a dull roar in his ears in spite of the plugs. The flash slowly faded to reveal the topmost block was shattered, smoking fragments littering the floor all over the gym. Directly behind where the block had been, the far wall was scorched.

When he'd designed his gauntlets, it had been to compensate for the recoil he'd experience from his larger explosions. The explosion just now had been the bigger than any of the ones he'd ever made prior to the USJ, and he'd done it with just his hands. He hadn't felt the recoil at all. It was just an average blast for him now. His explosion Quirk was vastly empowered by One for All, and One for All gave him the physical strength to withstand the consequences. It would've been a pretty sweet deal, had he managed to obtain it in some other way

The principal was tapping his leg. He fished one of the plugs out of his ear.

"That was good. Now show me a large blast. A finishing move type."

He put the plug back in and took aim once again. Once the ringing in his ears subsided, he took the plugs back out, and turned to the rodent.

"Well, we're going to need to make some repairs. Try to learn better control. That will be your goal for now."

He turned back to where the pyramid had been. Behind the blackened fragments, a smoking hole the size of six men had appeared in the far wall.

It wasn't good enough. He grimaced, thinking back to the USJ attack. Big explosions, super strength. What would any of that matter if he was trapped inside a photo? If he was paralysed by a doppelganger? And those were the ones that were easy to classify.

He couldn't even begin to understand what those two Stand users who'd rescued Todoroki and him had done. All he'd seen was the enemy's camera flying around, the enemy growing multiple new heads, and then suddenly reverting to a single exploded head.

If he couldn't understand an attack, or even see where it was coming from, how could he possibly fight it?

"Oi. Principal."

"Yes?"

"What do you know about Stands?"

The principal made a face, but due to his animalistic features, it was difficult to pin down what sort of face it was. Katsuki could hazard a guess, however.

"They're very dangerous. People without Stands can't see them, unless the Stand is a bound type. They have their own unique abilities. What specifically are you wanting to know?"

"Where do they come from?"

"Ah. That... well, it's difficult to know for sure."

"Stop fucking evading. You know. I damn well know you know."

"They can be passed down through bloodlines, I know that for a certainty. The Higashikata family is entirely comprised of Stand users, and I believe you've already gone over the Joestar lineage in class."

"And how'd the first users in these families get 'em? How'd Hirose get hers?"

"They... came into contact with an object."

"Be more specific."

"Is this how you talk to your teachers? You're rather lacking in respect."

"It's how I talk to people who dick me around. You want me to talk to Hirose directly? I bet she'll be less fucking cryptic."

"Fine, you've made your point. They were stabbed by a sort of arrow. Don't ask me to be more specific, all I know is that it's ornate and somewhat golden coloured. The majority of people stabbed by this artefact die. Those who don't develop Stands. Bakugou, I know what you're thinking."

"It's pretty obvious."

"Yes, well, I must warn you not to seek out such things. You may not survive, and even if you do... once you open that door, you can never shut it again."

* * *

His father was still in the training room. For four days now, any time the man came home, he went straight to the training room. Shouto would hear explosions and smell burning plastic at odd hours of the day. He still wasn't sure what the plastic was from. Maybe the punching bag?

Either way, he'd endeavoured to stay out of the house as much as possible. It had been bad enough just after All Might died, much to Shouto's surprise, but when the principal announced that the Sports Festival wouldn't take place this year, the man had flown into an even bigger rage. Every time he caught a glimpse of Endeavor, the hero was positively _seething_. It would be enough to fulfil Shouto's desire for schadenfreude for years afterward. If only he wasn't miserable himself.

It was clear that Shouto would be the next number one hero… but for the first time in a while, he wasn't sure he would be strong enough.

Maybe a Quirk could only get him so far. During the USJ he'd been utterly defeated by **Atom Heart Father**. He hadn't even had a single opportunity to fight back. And All Might… he'd been rendered helpless by Kurogiri's Stand as well. That's how the villains were able to kill him. If it hadn't been for Stone Free and her own group of antivillains, he wasn't sure how well the students _or_ UA's faculty would've done.

During the 2v2s he'd thought of the other student's Stands as not particularly dangerous, with the exception of Higashikata Joshu's. But it was clear to him now. In the right circumstances, a Stand would make _all _the difference. No one could ever claim Stone Free was stronger than All Might. Yet she succeeded where he failed. All because she had a Stand.

Was the gap between him and the Stand users that large? If so, could he _ever _match the other students, the ones who had that ability? It wasn't as though he could suddenly gain one for himself. He would have to rely on his Quirk, he realised.

Every aspect of it.


	14. Fun Day Out

Chapter 14 – Fun Time Out

Tenya usually knocked, and waited for the person in the room to admit him inside. He usually bowed sharply when introducing himself, and spoke to everyone with as much respect and distance as possible without being rude. That sort of politeness had been imparted into him from a young age, alongside all other sorts of etiquette expected from a member of the Iida family. He had taken to it like a fish to swimming, considering how he'd always been possessed of a naturally serious demeanor.

Tenya usually knocked, but obviously that went out the window when the person inside was in a coma. So he felt he could be forgiven for entering the room unannounced.

Tensei was sitting upright, and staring out the window, though he turned to look upon hearing the door opening.

"Tensei!" Tenya rushed over to his brother, enveloping him in a crushing hug.

"Woah there, champ. I'm still a little sore."

Tenya leapt off of him like he'd been scalded. "Of course! I'm so sor-"

"Hey. Calm down, it's fine."

Earlier, when Tenya had first entered the room, his brother had looked to see who it was. He hadn't been quick enough to change his expression in that moment. His face had been completely blank. Not sad, just empty. No emotion at all, bar a single tear on his cheek.

Tenya studied his older brother. A gentle smile was playing across his face, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. He looked… tired.

He hadn't expected Tensei to be awake. Tenya was supposed to be informed the moment he woke up. He told him as much.

"Yeah, I know, but… well, the doctor had some tests they needed to run.I told them to do that first. I wanted to be sure, y'know, before you guys came by."

A memory flashed through Tenya's mind, of the first time he'd come to the hospital, immediately after receiving word that his brother was there.

"_There is some damage to his spine."_ The doctor had said. _"__Based the position of the damage, we can't determine if this will have long-term effects on him until he wakes up. He could be perfectly fine. But he could also lose all mobility in his legs. Permanently. You need to be prepared for that possibility. We just won't know until he comes to."_

Tenya glanced down at his brother's legs. Tensei seemed to understand what he was thinking.

"I can't feel them." His voice wasn't bitter. It was completely flat, void of all feeling.

Tenya just stood there for a moment. Neither of them said anything.

"I-I should call mom and dad." He made to leave, but Tenya caught his arm.

"Wait. There's something I need to tell you first. Just you." Tenya stopped, and looked at his brother, waiting for him to continue. "I'm not going to be a hero anymore."

"We don't kno-"

"'Course we do. There's no point in lying to ourselves." Tenya's legs were trembling, but he didn't try to interject again. "Alright, take a seat."

Tensei waited until his younger brother had followed his order before he continued speaking.

"You want to be a hero, right?"

He nodded, not trusting himself to speak. Tensei frowned at nothing, letting his eyes go out of focus. It was a look Tenya was familiar with. His older brother always did that when he wasn't sure how to phrase something. Eventually, he sighed.

"I'm not going to be a hero anymore. But that doesn't mean this is the end of Ingenium. I want my… 'legacy', I guess, to continue. And since you're already becoming a hero..." He sighed again, and looked Tenya straight in the eyes. "I want you to be the next Ingenium."

Trepidation had been mounting inside of him since his brother had grabbed his arm, and now it reached a boiling point. His stomach felt like it was twisting inside of him, and his throat was closed so tight he had moments where he wasn't sure if he could actually breathe.

"I understand, that's a lot to drop on you. You can take a moment. Don't feel pressured."

Tenya shook his head, but couldn't lift his eyes to meet his brother's.

"I..." He tried saying, in a strangled voice. They sat in silence for several minutes.

"Tensei!" The door opened, and their parents rushed in. "The doctor called us. Are you okay. Wait, Tenya, how'd you get here so quickly?"

He remained silent as Tensei filled them in. The mood dropped a bit as he told them about his legs, but their mother swiftly pulled him into a hug.

"I don't care about that. I'm just happy you're alive."

"Mom, I'm still sore."

"Of course." She let go, but didn't back up, electing to hover over his bed.

"How did this happen? The police suspect Stain?" Their father spoke up.

Tensei sighed, and rubbed a hand over his face.

"Yeah, it was him. He's… a lot more dangerous than we thought."

"How so?" It was their father that spoke, but Tenya lifted his head for the first time since he'd sat down. The way Tensei had said that…

"He fought with bladed weapons. He was pretty darn good with them too. But that's not what was so dangerous about him. I was quick enough to avoid that sword he was swinging, but… not the other attack."

"The other attack?" Tenya spoke up, his voice oddly husky as it passed through his tightened throat.

"Yeah, these holes just appeared in me. A bunch of them, and all of them really small. My blood got everywhere… and then he licked it. I froze. I couldn't do anything. I just watched as he… was that how All Might felt?"

Tenya mumbled out an apology, slowly walked into the bathroom, calmly closed the door behind him, and vomited into the toilet.

* * *

"Are you _sure_ we should be doing this?" Jolyne asked, glancing around at the crowds, from behind her sunglasses.

"Yup! Come on, Jojo. It was gettin' dull, being all cooped up!" Foo cheerily replied. "I mean, who can stand being inside all damn day?"

"Wanted criminals. At least the ones who don't want to be caught."

"Nah, we'll be fine. That's what the disguises are for!"

Jolyne stifled a groan. Foo's 'disguise' was a literal tweed coat, with suspenders and a bow tie. And a pair of fake glasses. At least Jolyne was wearing her hair down, and had sunglasses on. Foo's face was barely obscured at all. They were so going to go back to fucking prison. Welp, it was a good run.

They were seated inside the food venue of some mall. At least it wasn't too close to their hideout. The last thing they needed was the police catching sight of them in the vicinity and correctly narrowing down the search radius as a result.

Foo reached forward, snagging a fry off of Jolyne's plate, and washed it down with the last of her water. Jolyne stifled yet another groan.

"When we were ordering, you said you didn't want any fries." The look on the cashier's face had been pretty funny when they ordered. Foo got three of the largest cups possible, and filled them with water, and then barely got any food.

"Oh, don't be so stingy. This is what friends do! They hang out at the mall, and try each other's food. Hang on, lemme get a refill." Foo got up and wandered towards the cashier, whose countenance shifted to a look of further horror.

Jolyne squirmed a bit. Her guts were doing flips. She wasn't exactly sure this was a normal hangout. Well, not that she had a great barometer for what was or wasn't normal, these days. Either way though, it felt a bit more like a date you'd see in the movies or some shit. Fry-stealing and all. Maybe it was just wishful thinking. Nah, she was just overthinking things, she figured, ignoring how that thought seemed to make a bit of pit in her stomach.

It was all Hermes fault, she decided. The whole outing had been Foo's idea, but she'd wanted everyone to go. Weather had begged out, as it clearly wasn't his thing. Emporio had been much the same. Jolyne had conveniently forgotten to invite Annasui, and she definitely didn't want to be out in public in the company of Hermit Purple – should they get caught, his secret support of them would exposed. But when invited, Hermes had asked who all was going. Apparently 'you, me, and Foo' was the wrong thing to say, since the other woman just laughed, wiggled her eyebrows, and said 'you girls have fuuuuun.' Fuckin' Hermes.

Foo returned, cup full, and grabbed yet another fry as she retook her seat.

"You know, those have a lotta like, salt and shit. Won't that dry you out?"

"Yep! That's why I got some more water!"

Jolyne didn't bother stifling this groan. She followed it up by lightly banging her head against the table. So maybe she was a little overdramatic. Sue her.

"Hey, that guy looks super goofy."

Jolyne turned to see who Foo was referring to, and saw an enormous guy in a white spandex suit, with a hood and a black eye mask on. A hero? And didn't he seem to be-

"Why is he looking at us?" Foo wondered.

The hero in question started walking towards them.

"Because your disguise sucks fat dick." Jolyne said, leaping to her feet and grabbing Foo's hand. "Time to run!"

The hero started running after them, but Jolyne no longer took notice. She focused forward, pulling Foo behind her as they sprinted away.

"_Stop right there!"_ From the loud bangs, clatters, and shouts coming from behind them, Jolyne guessed the hero was barrelling through the tables. Well, she had to give him credit, it was a much quicker route to his destination.

"Ah, I told you I shoulda worn a fez!"

"Come off it Foo, that woulda just made you even more fuckin' suspicious looking!"

They knocked through several passers-by, but Jolyne was careful not to get tripped up. Swiftly enough, they reached the railing. The food court was decently high up. In the fourth floor of the mall, to be precise, so that made this a good place to ditch their pursuer. With his gratuitous size, his quirk _had _to be related to all that fat, so he probably didn't have the greatest mobility.

She let go of Foo and turned one of her arms into string, willing it to wrap around the rail. Turning around showed the hero gaining on them at a much quicker pace then she would have expected.

"Damn, for a fatass, he's quick! Come on Foo, let's blow this popsicle stand!"

"Uh, this is a shoppi-" Foo was cut off by Jolyne grabbing her around the middle and jumping over the railing. They began descending relatively slowly, and before they got to the bottom floor, the hero was leaning over the railing, looking at them. He reached for the string Jolyne had around the rail.

"He'll throw us off?!" Foo said, astonished. Privately, Jolyne doubted it. He probably wanted to pull her back up with it. He had the mass to make a good enough counterweight.

She willed the string to slip free, and with no anchor, they began to fall. It was easy enough however, to swing the now free string like a lasso, and catch another railing entirely, from the third floor. Beyond the hero's reach.

But of course, two people falling creates a lot of weight and momentum, so when the string went taut, it hurt like hell. The pain reverberated through the string, and straight into Jolyne's shoulder.

"Damn Foo! How are you so fuckin' heavy?!"

"I drink a lot of water!" The plankton proudly proclaimed, with a grin so goofy Jolyne was tempted to forgive her right then and there.

They descended the rest of the way, and landed lightly on the floor. Jolyne reverted her arm back to normal and immediately let go of Foo. Carrying a person in one arm is hard enough, but she wasn't kidding when she said Foo was heavy. Both of her arms were _so _damn sore now.

The hero above them stared down, as if thinking of how to stop them. Foo lifted a finger underneath her eye and pulled the skin down, sticking her tongue out at him at the same time.

"_Everyone, stand clear."_ He shouted, before vaulting over the railing, and plummeting all the way down. He bellyflopped onto the ground with a resounding _Smack!_, and swiftly got back on his feet.

_Dammit! _Jolyne thought. _Is that his quirk? He didn't bounce. Some sort of shock absorption?_

"_Well, he ought to have heard that."_ The hero said, seemingly more to himself than them. _"I am the hero known as Fatgum! In the name of the law, Stone Free and Foo Fighters, you are under arrest."_

"Foo."

"Yeah, Jolyne?"

"Shoot this dickhead."

"Sure!" Foo shifted her hand to a gun and fired off a plankton. It impacted the hero directly in the centre and… nothing happened. The momentum was seemingly stalled right away by the fat covering him.

_So my guess was correct._ Jolyne thought.

"_So, you choose to fight! Very well then."_ Fatgum began charging towards them.

Jolyne put her hand behind Foo, and slipped it underneath the back of Foo's shirt, pressing her palm against the small of her friend's back. A gold ripple transferred across her hand and into Foo, hidden from Fatgum's sight by Foo's body.

"Once more. With feeling."

"Roger that, boss!" Foo fired another bullet, this one laced with the Joestar family Quirk. It slammed into Fatgum, but this time, with far more effect. Jolyne had needed something that could transfer through Foo without effecting her, while still doing damage to Fatgum. Thus, this ripple warped the fat which stored the energy the hero was struck with. The success was clear, as the Fatgum spasmed on the floor.

"_All energy changes forms, but it goes away. No doubt you're aware of this, considering how your Quirk works. When you absorb kinetic energy, it becomes potential energy. By warping your fat so it can no longer hold that energy the way it previously had, the potential energy is released – in the form of kinetic energy. And you absorbed a lot when you crashed into the ground floor from the fourth."_

Jolyne turned away from him, keeping her hand on the small of Foo's back, and using it to guide her away. "Let's go. Before he recovers."

"_Fatgum!"_ Came a voice from above them. Jolyne looked up, along with many of the civilians who were stood watching the scene unfold. A young man in a dark hero costume was stood high above them on the fourth floor, and had apparently been the one to shout, though he now seemed to draw back from the attention.

It was only for a moment though, for he quickly regained his composure, and a pair of wings sprouted from his back. Chicken wings, if Jolyne wasn't mistaken. He leapt, and glided down fast, straight towards them. His left hand morphed into a swordfish sword, and his right into an oyster shell.

He aimed for Foo's shoulder with the sword, keeping his momentum from the hard fall. That was his mistake. Jolyne pushed Foo aside and stepped forward. The sword passed through her shoulder, but didn't leave a mark. A hole had already opened up, and the string comprising it swiftly contracted, grabbing the sword tight.

It wasn't like the fight with Shigaraki – she had no intention of maiming him. Instead, she spun on her heel in the direction away from them, careful not to go too slow and thereby cancel his momentum, before releasing her hold on him.

With all the momentum, he was flung across the floor, and crashed into a small seafood stand.

It all happened in the span of seconds, so Jolyne had to grab Foo's hand and lift her back to her feet.

"Okay, _this _time we're gettin' the fuck outta here." They ran again, Jolyne pulling Foo along like before.

A shout from behind them let them know the new hero was back on his feet, and Foo turned her attention to him, firing off a couple of bullets. From the clang sound, they'd been stopped by something.

"Damn oyster shell. Everyone knows oysters are an inferior aquatic species anyways!"

"Foo, don't shoot while we run. Too many civilians around."

"Yeah, I get it. Wouldn't do anything anyway. Why are _both_ of these guys hard counters for me? That uh, what did you say earlier, Jolyne? That sucks fat dick!"

"Oh god, _please_ don't repeat the things I say."

Jolyne risked a glance behind them. The young man- well, maybe more a teenager – was gaining on them.

She morphed an arm into a net and cast it out. There was a mechanical rocking horse toy which could be used with coins sitting by the entrance of a store. She grabbed it in the net and tore it loose from the foundation, before throwing it behind them at their pursuer

"Ah, no fair! I can't shoot but you can throw things?"

"It's too big to ricochet."

"Laaame."

Their pursuer morphed his non-oyster arm into a bunch of tentacles, and grabbed the mechanical horse out of the air before it could impact him. It cost him time however. Due to the crowds, he couldn't just fling it away while he ran, he had to slow down and drop it.

That had worked well enough, and so as they neared the exit, Jolyne retained the net form. She reached out and caught several mobility scooters just in front of the doors, and pulled them out and into each other, making a wall out them.

That didn't work _as_ well. The new hero crashed into the wall, oyster shell first, and kept running.

The doors didn't open automatically as they approached. Clearly security had caught wind of what was going on.

"**Stone Free**!" Jolyne's Stand fully manifested, and sent a fist through the glass, which the two of them jumped through. Her Stand's humanoid form wasn't as strong as say, **Star Platinum**, but it was better to use its fists than her own. Afterall, glass won't cut Stands, but Jolyne's fleshy human fists? They'd get torn to ribbons.

They ran into the street, cars slamming on the brakes and honking all around them. It was a Saturday afternoon in Tokyo, so the traffic was pretty severe. It didn't slow down their pursuer at all. Once again, a pair of wings sprouted from his back. He leapt onto one of the cars that had stopped for them, and jumped off, gaining enough air to use his wings to glide after them.

Jolyne sent out string onto a traffic light post, and pulled herself and Foo up with it as the hero flew towards them. She swung them in arc, and the hero went past them, though he was close enough that Foo nearly got a mouthful of his feathers. His tentacles reached out and grabbed Jolyne's ankle, but a golden ripple quickly pried them off.

He landed heavily on the pavement, but didn't miss a beat before he turned. He leapt onto a car parked by the curb, and jumped off of it, taking to the air again.

Up the street came a police car, red and blue lights flashing.

"Damn, someone called the cops! Alright, into the alleys."

They ran in between the buildings, near a restaurant's side door. Jolyne sent out a string, and pulled the door, holding it open as they ran past. When they got to a turn, they took it, and Jolyne recalled her string. As the police and the hero ran into the alley, they saw a swinging door, and no criminals.

Shouts of '_where are they! We know they came through here!'_ let her know they fell for it, as they accosted the poor confused kitchen staff.

"Alright Foo. We gotta make a getaway. Time for your Quirk." It wasn't really _Foo's_ Quirk, per se. More the one belonging to the girl whose body Foo had taken, seemingly forever ago in Florida. It wasn't anything flashy that would make a hero or villain, but it had its uses.

Foo closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, they began running again, their footfalls utterly silent.

The body's original owner had been a girl who hated being noticed, and had really lucked out with her Quirk. Well, until she used it to stage a kidnapping. She'd managed to evade the police for a surprising amount of time for an amateur as well, using that Quirk.

And now they used it follow in her footsteps as they wandered their way through the alleys of Tokyo. Occasionally they'd hear voices up ahead, or behind, in a side alley and have to make a detour. But after a while, they finally made their way out of the ward they'd been in, and collapsed up against a wall, side by side.

Jolyne was worn out. Her hair was damp from sweat and stuck to her forehead. She turned to see Foo looking directly at her, sweating up a storm herself, and grinning.

She was aware of the silence being turned off when she could suddenly hear her own tired panting.

"Well? I told you going out would be fun!"

Jolyne gaped at her in shock for a moment, before rolling her eyes and groaning. _Of course she thought that was fun. _She looked back at Foo, whose face was still holding that goofy fucking grin. _Oh, fuck it._

"What, you didn't li-" Foo didn't have a chance to finish, because Jolyne grabbed her suspenders and pulled her into a kiss.

_I really gotta thank Hermes for refusing._ She thought.

* * *

"Nah man, it's all about this right here." Higashikata said, circling his hands over his chest, mimicking a different sort of shape to found there. "Oh, and the face too."

"No, I get that, it's just- why limit yourself? There are infinite possibilities, and infinite hot chicks to embody them!" Minoru said. "Facts are facts, you're not giving thighs nearly enough credit."

Minoru hadn't really had many opportunities to talk to Higashikata before. In fact, he kinda thought the guy was a little scary. But hey, Jirou had ended up being perfectly fine. No harm no foul, right? And besides, he was surprised to find the taller boy was actually pretty cool. Way less uptight than all the other guys in the class.

"Haha, hey if that's what you want, fine. It leaves more for me. But I betcha I land a girl before you."

Minoru scoffed. "You're too fixated on Hirose. Meanwhile _I_ catch a wider net. There's no way you're gonna beat me."

"Hey, Yasuho is practically already mine. I'm _way_ ahead of you." The worst part, Minoru felt, was that Higashikata might actually believe that.

They were sitting in Higashikata's room in his apartment, eating pizza and playing some racing game. They had the whole place to themselves, for the moment. Kujo was out and about, and Minoru had the suspicion that wherever he was, Hirose was with him. Minoru elected not to say this, however, and instead took the conversation down a different path.

"So, our rivalry aside, who in our class do you think'll get together first?" Minoru wondered.

"Hmm. Ah shit, that's a good one. Honestly, I barely pay attention to those plebs. Buuuut… maybe Kaminari and Jirou. They hang out a lot, right? And he keeps givin' me the stinkeye." Higashikata muttered the last part under his breath.

"Oh, that's a good one. I think Kira and Tokoyami, though."

"What? The fucking bird? No way he's gonna get any girl's tail-feathers. Unless, what, ya think she's a furry?"

"Hah! Maybe. But I'm serious. They've both got this edgelord thing goin' on. All dark and angsty. I see it."

"Huh, now that you mention it." Higashikata took a moment to snicker to himself. "God, wouldn't that be funny. You think he's got a dick or a cloaca?"

"Hmm. Well, it's just his head that's the bird right? Rest of his body's human. So…"

"Yeah, I getcha. Woulda been funny though."

"Totally."

They lapsed into silence. Higashikata tried a balancing act, eating his pizza in one hand, and holding his controller in a weird awkward grip. It didn't work out that well, and his red car crashed into a wall, losing time.

Minoru's blue car continued on, as Higashikata struggled to right himself. All Higashikata saw was Minoru's '**NUM2**' plate as he blew past him and crossed the finish line.

"Not number one any more, huh?" Minoru teased, keeping his voice light in spite of the smugness he felt.

"Aw come on, that's cheating!"

"Nope. It's skill."

"Whatever. I'd win a real fight. Games like this don't matter."

Minoru didn't care that Higashikata was a sore loser, but he got quiet all the same. It was true, he thought. Higashikata would _definitely_ win a real fight.

"What's it like? Having a Stand I mean."

"Pfft. It's the best ever. It helps that I've got the coolest Stand of 'em all. Chicks love it."

That was a lie of course, but it set Minoru's mind to wondering. If Higashikata didn't maim a chick early on, _would _his Stand have gotten him some feminine attention? It seemed to be working for Kujo. If he had one, he probably would have a girlfriend. Maybe even two. That was the best part of being a hero, Minoru knew. The chicks. And if he had _extra_ powers? He'd be drowning in girls.

Yaoyorozu, maybe. Or Ashido. They'd both be super impressed with how cool he was for it. And why limit himself to his classmates? As a hero, he'd have a ton of fangirls. He let himself bask in the fantasy a little longer, before heaving a sigh, and getting ready for the next round of racing. This time _he_ got the red car with the '**NUM1**' license plate.

* * *

It was a pretty dingy looking place, all things considered. Dust covered all the corners, and the wallpaper was faded and peeling. No decorations adorned the walls either. Tenya supposed it fit, though. It wasn't as though the place operated in full cooperation with the law. They were probably squatting, in fact. In truth, it set his teeth on edge just to be here, but perhaps it was necessary for a hero to be flexible.

He doubted it. He didn't feel as though heroes should willingly consort with such… undesirable sorts as these, but desperation had its own way of convincing even the most principled of figures.

"Alright. That'll be 200,000 yen."

It seemed like a lot, but honestly, it was cheaper than it had any right to be. Well, most of the people who went through with it ended up dying, so perhaps it wasn't that unusual. It's certainly why they had to ask for the money up front, though.

In fact, Tenya rationalised, the illegality of it all was certainly tied to the risk that customer took. In this case, it was far more acceptable that he go along with this. It wasn't as though he was putting another's life at risk. He was shouldering the burden on his own. That was the whole point of it all in fact.

He handed over the money. Tenya wasn't all that used to paying with cash, but the criminal types hardly accepted debit cards. His brother had been very confused as to why he needed the cash, but… he'd been easy enough to convince. In a sense, they'd managed to convince each other.

He couldn't _believe_ a villain had managed to defeat Ingenium. All his life, his brother had seemed invincible. As tall, proud, and _good_ as All Might.

_Stands. Why does it always come back to Stands?_

A slow mounting dread had built as Tenya talked to Tensei. From the moment he was told to be the next Ingenium, he'd been full of this… _fear_. Fear wasn't new to him, he was hardly a robot, but this had been something else entirely. It was a feeling of powerlessness, the same one that had plagued him ever since the USJ.

An attack that Tensei hadn't even seen coming… Tenya couldn't help but recall the battle at the USJ. Hirose crying out and falling over, without him having any idea what had happened. The villain's hand getting ripped in half, all of the lights going dark…

Even before then, when Higashikata had torn Jirou apart. Stands really were… horrific. He hated them, he realised. It didn't quite make sense, it wasn't like Stands were _specifically_ responsible. Or even capable of making their own choices. And he'd befriended a number of Stand users. But still, logic or no, after what they did to his brother… he couldn't forgive Stands.

Tenya was snapped out of his reverie by the criminal snapping his fingers of front of his face. Apparently they'd already finished counting the money, and retrieved the arrow.

It was strange to look at. A sort of bronze of gold colouring all over it. An ornate tip. This was it? This was the thing that could cause so much suffering? It felt almost cheap.

"You sure about this kid? There's no goin' back. Ain't no one gonna judge you for backin' out now."

An image of Tensei looking at him as he walked in the door flashed through his mind. Blank faced, no visible emotion in his eyes or the set of his mouth. Just a single tear on his cheek.

The image was coupled with the sound of Jirou's screams upon seeing her legs detached from her body. Even transmitted through a screen, they were agonising to hear.

He thought of his own poor perfomance in the 2v2s, how he'd easily been the least valuable player. How useless he'd been fighting **Red Hot Chilli Pepper**. And how not a single other person had voted for him to be class rep.

No one had faith in him. Least of all himself. And he was supposed to be the next Ingenium? Not like this. It wasn't possible.

"Yeah. I'm sure."

The man laughed. "Damn kid, no need to be so serious. Wipe that scary look off of your face. Well, here. I'll do that for ya."

And then he stabbed Tenya in the throat.

* * *

**I know my take on the physics behind Fatgum's energy being released is a little wonky, but it felt _too_ JoJo's to not include.**


	15. New Teacher

Chapter 15 – New Teacher

It was weird going back to school after having all that time off. The mood was... strange. People walked through the halls, going to their classes, but none of them were grouping up. There wasn't any conversation echoing throughout the building. Everyone's face as they passed by was set in a serious look. It felt almost like a hospital.

Ochako shook her head to dispel the weird feeling. It would fall on her to be positive. That way she could help everyone feel better.

She put on a smile, and walked into class. She wasn't quite the first one in. Iida was sitting down and staring straight ahead, not checking his phone or even studying. Tokoyami and Kira were also there, sitting together and talking too quietly to overhear.

She tried to engage Iida in a conversation, but he was quiet, only responding with clipped one word sentences. She eventually let him be.

It wasn't too long before the rest of the class began filtering in. Most of them seemed alright, like they'd gotten over the attack on the USJ, but a few here and there seemed strangely reserved. Well, she guessed it couldn't be helped.

One noteworthy student was Bakugou, who seemed to have put on a lot of muscle. He'd bulked up to a seemingly abnormal degree.

"Uhh, Bakugou?" His gaze snapped to her as she spoke. The look in his eyes was as intense as always, and for a moment she clammed up. But he raised his eyebrow impatiently, and she forged ahead.

"What happened with you? You look… different." She ventured.

He scoffed. "How'd ya notice? Yeah, I discovered a new aspect to my Quirk during the uh, stress of the USJ. Turns out it also gives me super strength."

"What?!" Shouted Ashido. "That's totally not fair! Your Quirk was already powerful!"

"Yeah, and how do explosions and strength mix together? That's a weird combo." Kirishima chimed in.

"Hmm. Multifaceted Quirks are odd, but hardly unheard of." Yaoyorozu said. "It's not impossible that this would happen. Take Todoroki's Quirk, for example. Either way, Bakugou, I suppose congratulations are in order."

Bakugou scoffed again. He didn't meet Yaoyorozu's eyes, Ochako noticed. He just glared at the wall behind her.

"No seriously! I get how Todoroki does fire and ice – those are both, like, elements! But super strength and explosions don't go together." Kirishima said.

"Oh for – neither does a big solid shadow and a bird face, but you're not harassing the fuckin' bird brain back there!" Bakugou shouted out, seemingly broken out of whatever reverie Ochako had caught him in.

Maybe she was just imagining things. Either way, she felt she had to come to his aid.

"Doesn't Kujo have two Quirks? Shrinking stuff and healing? I guess stuff like this isn't all too rare." Ochako mused aloud.

_I can certainly vouch for the shrinking._ She thought, with a mild pout. She didn't like being even _shorter_ than normal.

"Settle down." Aizawa came in, closing the door behind him. A blonde foreigner they'd never seen before trailed in behind him. An adult, wearing strange clothes riddled with holes. But that was an afterthought.

"Mister Aizawa! You're… covered in bandages!" Ochako shouted in surprise.

"I'll start by informing you of some of the changes being made."

"He ignored me..."

"Starting today, a new teacher will be taking over All Might's position. This teacher is noteworthy for class 1-A, because some of you will be interacting with him more than others. To that end, he's taking homeroom today to meet you all."

The man who had followed Aizawa in stepped forward.

"My name is Pannacotta Fugo. I'm a… hero from Italy, and my hero name is Purple Haze. It's a pleasure to meet you all." He hesitated oddly on the word hero, but Ochako barely noticed.

It was a little weird, she thought. A new teacher, so suddenly. It felt almost like they were… replacing All Might. She shook her head to dispel the morbid thought. _Be positive. _She reminded herself.

"Your Japanese is very good!" Yaoyorozu said.

"Mister Fugo's Quirk increases his intelligence by a large margin. As such, it's easy for him to learn a second language." Aizawa said in mild but tired voice. "He learned the language on the flight here."

The class erupted at that. Several students exclaimed how cool that was, and several others expressed disbelief. Mina in particular came out with another cry of how unfair that was. Ochako giggled a little, but she could empathise. If she had something like that, she'd be doing _so_ much better in class…

"Please, please. My Quirk can't take all the credit." Fugo said. "My boss, that is, the hero I work with. He's half Japanese himself, on his mother's side. He gave me some pointers and practice before I left. I didn't learn it _all _from scratch."

"Oh, makes sense. But with a Quirk like that, you're not the straight combat type, huh?" Asked Kirishima.

"I try to avoid direct combat, yes." The new teacher responded.

"Moving on to the next bit of news." Aizawa said. "Soon, the students will begin work shadowing. Usually, hero agencies send us requests after watching the UA Sports Festival, but since it was cancelled, that's obviously not likely to occur. A few of you have received requests anyway, but most of you will be expected to choose from a list of heroes.

"Higashikata." The boy with the bowlcut perked up.

"You've received a request from Walking Heart, and you'll be shadowing her. Kujo, you've received one from King Nothing, and will shadow him."

"What gives, we don't get a choice?" Higashikata asked.

"No. You must shadow a Stand-using hero. Since these two have specifically made requests, they get you. It's not as though we have a surplus of Stand-using heroes available." Higashikata rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly at that, seemingly conceding the point.

Kujo didn't really react either way. _He must have been expecting this._ Ochako thought.

"Kira, Hirose, you'll be partnered up." Aizawa continued. "We have another Stand-using hero available, and since you two don't have requests, you'll be placed with him."

"Understood."

"Gotcha!"

"Todoroki and Bakugou are the only other students to get requests from pro heroes. Since the two of you aren't Stand users, you have the option to refuse and pick a different hero." He said, turning to the two students in question. Todoroki nodded his acknowledgement, and Bakugou grunted.

"The rest of you will be taking the same list of heroes to shadow. Pick three options, and rank them in the order you'd prefer. There's no guarantee you'll go with your first, or even second pick. They may end up taking another student. That's why it's important to be open."

He gave the stack of papers to Yaoyorozu, who began distributing them to the non-stand using students.

"Another thing to mull over, while you do this. You'll be selecting Hero Names, which you'll use during your job shadowing. Be sure to take it seriously. These names could very well stick. Mister Fugo will oversee that."

Ochako had to put more thought into the specific hero she'd follow, as she'd already had a name in mind. But even that didn't take too long, and she ended up turning her paper in with Gunhead's name at the top.

Once everyone had finished their selections, Purple Haze gave a number of whiteboards and markers to Hirose and Yaoyorozu, who passed them out to the class.

"I'll give you a few minutes to think about this before we start sharing the names. Try and make it good." He said, ending with a light, easy smile.

Ochako finished hers quickly, and used the time to watch the others. The Morioh crew and a few others finished quickly as well, but most took a minute. Iida and Bakugou were the last to finish. They took a while just staring down at their boards and frowning, for a long enough time that it began to draw attention.

Finally, they too put down something, and Fugo clapped his hands.

"So, who wants to share?"

Ashido went up first, amd revealed a board saying 'Alien Queen'. Ochako didn't quite like the name, and many of the others seemed to share her sentiments, but the teacher just shrugged and said 'if you're okay with that'.

The next one up was Kujo.

"Well, it's a pretty obvious name, considering, you know… but, here." He flipped his board to reveal the words 'Soft and Wet', which caused the teacher to suddenly start choking.

He stood straight up quickly enough, and pounded a fist on his chest to stop his coughs, before shooting an incredulous look at Kujo.

"That is- you're one of the Stand users, right?"

"Yeah? What's wrong?"

"Is that the name of your Stand?" Fugo frowned as he spoke, his eyebrows knitted together and raised high in an incredulous stare.

"Yes?" Kujo looked back at him blankly.

"Well… in that case, I guess I don't have a reason to override you… I guess we should just be grateful we're not in an English speaking country..."

Ochako didn't really understand what was so bad about it herself. A look around the room showed most wore blank looks of confusion to match with Kujo's. All but Yaoyorozu, who was poorly hiding a grimace.

Weird.

"Okay, next?"

It went on as expected. The other Stand users, rather expectedly, took the same name as their Stands. It wasn't too surprising when Todoroki quietly went up and revealed his own name, but it was when Bakugou did the same. She kinda expected something boisterous and obnoxious from him.

Iida was the last to go. He flipped over his board, showing off 'Ingenium' to the entire class, and didn't say a word.

Fugo quirked an eyebrow. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't Japan already have a hero named that?"

"My brother. He retired recently."

If Ochako had been sitting in the back she probably wouldn't have heard him. His voice was strangled, and so quiet, and it was filled with an emotion she couldn't recognise.

"Ah, I see. Well, in that case, wear it with pride." Purple Haze turned back to the class. "That concludes the name choosing. It was nice to have met you all. We'll be seeing each other later on in the school year. Some of you will be seeing me sooner. For now, I must take my leave."

Ochako frowned, trying to puzzle out that last comment in her mind.

* * *

The train stopped, and they all began to filter off.

"Wait, we're all going the same way?" Josuke wondered. "I didn't think it was weird that we took the same train, but everyone is stopping at Hosu?"

"Yeah, it makes sense. For the four of us, at least. I figure we're probably all going to shadow the Higashikatas. They're the only Stand wielding heroes in the country, after all." Yasuho said.

"So we'll be placed with Speed King." Kyo said, quietly.

"Yeah. But I don't get why you are here, Iida. No offense." Yasuho added.

"The hero I'm with is Manual. He's a local hero, based here in Hosu. He's supposed to be good for work shadowing and interns. That's why I chose him." Iida was strangely quiet, Josuke thought. He was always serious, but he was usually much more outspoken, loud, and physically expressive.

"That explains Iida." He said. "But as for everyone else… well, I was a little confused, because Nori- Mister Higashikata texted me, and told me to meet him here in Hosu. I figured everyone else would be going to Morioh..."

Privately, he was pleased. This meant he'd probably be working with Yasuho at points. And he could bring up that idea he'd been playing with. Norisuke might agree to it.

"Haato told me to come here too. They're probably gonna meet us there and drive us back to Morioh, y'know?" Joshu said.

"That makes no sense." Kyo interjected. "Why wouldn't they just get us at the apartment if that was the case. Hosu isn't any closer than Musutafu. Besides, _I _was told to go to a conference room. That hardly sounds like I'm getting picked up."

"Ugh, who gives a shit?"

Kyo rolled her eyes but otherwise ignored Joshu.

They walked along the road, mostly quiet, but for the occasional chatter between Josuke and Yasuho. Even that was strangely infrequent. Iida's mood seemed infectious.

They weren't even that surprised when he turned onto a different street and split from them without a word.

"Uh, bye Iida..." Yasuho said, her tone tentative. Uncertain.

"Goodbye." He said, without looking back.

The four of them continued on the same way, finally coming to a stop in front of the same building. The front door was unlocked, and they'd already been told to let themselves in beforehand.

The interior was a lobby, with several businessmen and women waiting in chairs off to the side. They walked up to the receptionist.

"Hello, I'm here for conference room 12?" Josuke said.

"Me too. I think all of us are." Yasuho added. No one contradicted her.

"Go on up to the second floor. They're already here, and they sent word that they were expecting you."

"Thank you." She said.

They made their way up, and passed by several rooms, before coming to the one marked 12. Upon entering, Josuke took note of three figures sitting around a table. All were dressed in their hero costumes.

"Come in, come in." Norisuke said. "We need to catch the four of you up."

Josuke took in his appearance for a moment before entering. It was the first time he'd had seen the man's work outfit. The base was almost street wear, a pair of pants and a t-shirt, only made notable by the multicoloured puzzle piece pattern.

The pants appeared to be slacks, at least in composition. That was kinda weird, Josuke felt. He'd never seen slacks with graphics before.

A pair of gauntlets were attached to Norisuke's arms, with nozzles in the palms. Josuke knew he had the same Quirk as Joshu, which let him emit a sticky substance from his hands. He expected the gauntlet worked with that Quirk.

The four of them wandered in and took their seats. As they did so, they looked at the room's third pro hero with confusion in their eyes.

"The three of us have undertaken the same case. It may be a bit unorthodox, but we'll all be working together on this one. Not to worry though, we'll still be taking some time to train those specifically assigned to us." The sole woman, Higashikata Haato, said.

Her own outfit was more… fashionable. A long white dress, a pearl necklace, and a pair of high heels. Josuke wasn't entirely sure it _was_ her hero outfit, he just assumed it to be, considering the other two.

"Paisley Park, Born This Way, you two will be shadowing me." Pannacotta Fugo looked across the table at them all, an almost bored expression on his face.

He was wearing the same outfit as he had in school, but all the teachers wore their hero outfits at UA. Josuke was more surprised by his presence than his apparel.

"Uh, Mister Fugo, you have a Stand?" Yasuho asked.

"While we're interacting in a professional manner, you'll be expected to call me Purple Haze. And yes. In fact, that's the reason the three of us have been put on the same case."

"And what is that?" Kyo asked.

"From the reports given by Ingenium, it would appear that the Hero Killer Stain has manifested a Stand." Norisuke said. "As such, the Hero Association has called on us to stop him. Our goal is to take him alive. After all, if he has a Stand, he may have information regarding the League of Villains."

The older man locked eyes with Josuke, and he understood. The mission they were working together on. This would be an opportunity to get the healing Stand from Whitesnake.

* * *

It was a damn tall building, Katsuki thought, as he climbed up the stairs. The guy only had two damn sidekicks and one intern, what the hell did he need all that space for?

"Hey, what's with that scary look? You should be happy! Sir rarely _requests_ a student!" What was worse was this damn upperclassman blathering on in his ear.

"Yeah."

"I gotta say, I'm a little surprised. You don't really seem like his type! Usually he likes to pick someone with a bit less uh… well." The older student threw back head with a hearty laugh. It was annoying as shit. "Anyways! A word of advice before you go in? Sir might have asked for you specifically, but that's not the same as him _acknowledging _you. If you want him to acknowledge you, you'll have to make him laugh!"

"What kinda dumbass shit is that?"

"Hey, it's the truth."

"Whatever."

They _finally_ reached the top of the needlessly long staircase, and came to the office door. Rather than knock, Katsuki elected to push the door open and stride on in.

Sir Nighteye was sitting down, and had clearly been waiting for them. His eyebrows were furrowed, and a frown covered his lower face. It was a grim look.

"Thank you for coming. Togata, please wait outside."

The upperclassman nodded, leaving Bakugou alone with the hero.

"So. You're All Might's successor. You don't look like much." Sir Nighteye was even more stunningly dour in person.

"Throw me at a villain and see for yourself." Katsuki stated, standing straight and grinning.

Sir Nighteye didn't seem very impressed, however. If anything, his countenance seemed to grow even darker. "Is that it? You can win a fight?"

"I can win _every_ fight." _Liar._ He thought to himself. _You can't even beat up a lizard with a camera._ He didn't let his grin waver.

"Is that what makes a hero? Is All Might great because he wins every fight?" Katsuki noticed the use of the present tense, and filed that away for later.

"Yeah. He struck fear into the hearts of villains everywhere. It took a Stand to take him down."

"And there it is." Sir Nighteye said.

Katsuki raised an eyebrow.

"Your motive. What you'll achieve. Fear. If all you want to do is inspire fear, you may as well be another villain."

He clenched his fist hard at that. _What the fuck?_

Katsuki took several steps forward and leaned over the desk, until he was face to face with Sir Nighteye.

"What the hell does that mean? I'm gonna stop the fucking villains, that's a _hero's job_!"

"A hero job isn't just stopping villains. It's saving people." If he was bothered by Katsuki being in his face, he didn't show any signs of it.

"_Obviously_." Katsuki snorted hard, showing just what he thought of that. "And people get saved when villains get stopped."

"No, they don't. That might save someone from the immediate danger, but it doesn't save their hearts. There is no future for a society without humour."

The older man's rebuttal was delivered in low monotone. _Where's the humour in that?_ He wondered.

But something odd was shining in the man's eyes. Somewhere beyond the sudden thrumming of anger in his veins, Katsuki was realising Sir Nighteye was fanatical in his belief in humour. Fanatics never acknowledged their own hypocrisy. _I'm the same way __with winning. _Something in his gut clenched at that, but he pushed it to the side. Easy enough to do. He just had to replace it with the ever present rage. He'd gotten used to that.

"What the actual fuck are you talking about? If you think heroes have to tell jokes all the time, replace your sidekicks with stand up comics." Katsuki laughed, but it was so low and bitter it sounded more like a cough. He pushed his face even further into Sir Nighteye's space, until he and the pro hero were nearly nose to nose, and continued in a dark murmur. "See if that stops a rampaging villain."

Nighteye scoffed, narrowing his eyes at Katsuki. But he leaned back all the same. _Score._

"You must know I'm aware of One for All."

"Yeah, no shit. Why the hell else would All Might's former sidekick request me personally?" The tenser part had seemed to pass, and Katsuki straightened back up as he spoke, exiting Sir Nighteye's personal space.

"I never thought you should inherit it, and all you've done since arriving is convince me you're unworthy."

_Again, no shit._ Katsuki thought. _Join the club._

"Then why are you bothering with me? What do you get out of it?"

"Togata should have inherited it." Nighteye said in a mild tone. Like they were friends, talking about what they'd have for lunch or some shit.

Katsuki barked out another laugh.

"What? That obnoxious idiot? You've _gotta_ be kidding. And don't think you can dodge the fucking question."

"He's the number one student in UA. In fact, he's closer to taking the number one _hero _spot than most pros. That alone should convince you, since you seem to believe might makes right."

Katsuki ground his teeth so hard he could hear the creaking in his ear, but he didn't dispute the remark.

"But much more importantly, there is always a smile on his face. Whenever he's around, you hear laughter. _That_ is the most necessary quality for a hero. For All Might's successor." Sir Nighteye paused, and breathed out a sigh. He rubbed his eyes with two fingers, pushing his glasses up in the process.

"Did you know All Might was originally Quirkless? In those days it was more common, but it's still worth noting."

Katsuki's heart seemed to stop, and a faint taste of bile rose up in his mouth. He looked at the pro hero, and for a moment the yellow in his hair was washed away. The green hair turned into a tousled mop, and the glasses disappeared, replaced with freckles. _Why am I thinking about that all of a sudden?_

Sir Nighteye pressed on, ignorant to Katsuki's internal reverie.

"One for All can give anyone power, that doesn't matter. Togata is the kind of hero who can save a person's heart. He can _inspire_ others.

"And no, I'm not trying to dodge your… _effing_ question." The hero's nose crinkled while he recalled Katsuki's words, as though he smelled something foul. "You're here so I can show you exactly how much you don't deserve this power. You're here to learn."

A sea of negative emotions was roiling in his gut, waves of hate and shame crashing down until he couldn't differentiate them. It all mixed in to one strange misery, pointed in every so many directions he couldn't keep track of it all.

Katsuki was about ready to leave, there and then, and say fuck the job shadowing, when Sir Nighteye stood up straight.

"We have a training facility in this building. Follow me, and we'll begin." Well, that was just about the best damn thing the man had said since Katsuki arrived.

The churning inside him wasn't quelled, but he did his best to push it to the side, and grudgingly walked with the hero.

Togata was in the hall, holding some can he'd gotten from a vending machine. In front of him was one of Sir Nighteye's sidekick's, Centipeder. The two were happily chatting, but Sir Nighteye called out to Togata, bidding him to join them as they made their way to the gym.

He still wasn't too happy with the way this was turning out, but he figured training was the perfect time to show what he could do. _Maybe then I can convince someone I'm worthy._

Principal Nedzu's face flashed in his mind. The fucking rat had its ugly muzzle twisted in some version of a grimace. That long mouth had been grimacing at him since the two of them had first begun to truly interact. Katsuki wasn't sure he could remember any other look daring to _grace_ the rat's face anymore.

"_I'm choosing you." Blood in my mouth._ The villains nearby had been so wrapped up in their fight, they weren't paying attention. All Might had been so quiet. Even Todoroki hadn't heard. _"Your drive… I believe in it. I really do. You'll do great things." _

_Why? Why me? Why waste something like that on _this_?_ But distraught as he was, the sadness inevitably turned. One moment he was swimming, the misery sliding underneath his skin, slick around his bones. The next, it had morphed into rage. Heat poured out from his heart, pounding through his veins 'til his temples throbbed. Katsuki thought about Nedzu, and Sir Nighteye. _How fucking _dare _they? How dare they doubt All Might? Doubt _me?!

The mood swing was abrupt, but he was used to it. He reveled in it, really. He only had so many feelings he could process at a time, and anger was by far the best. _It's familiar, at this point._

"How often are you going to retreat into your own head?" Sir Nighteye's voice, scornful as it was, shook him from his thoughts. "This isn't the first time I've seen it happen, and I've just met you."

They'd arrived. Katsuki elected to ignore him, and looked around the room.

The training facility was big, at least enough to somewhat justify the size of the place. A wide variety of weights lined one of the walls, near a bench press. There was a punching bag, a treadmill, and a few other assorted strength and endurance training machines. But the major draw was a large ring, centered directly in the room. Katsuki grinned, and cracked his knuckles.

"Alright, Bakugou." Sir Nighteye sighed. "Time to see what you can do. Get in the ring. You too, Togata. First to get knocked out of bounds, fall unconscious or yield loses."

Well, now he had a way of relieving the anger.


	16. Job Shadowing

Chapter 16 - Job Shadowing

The hotel in Hosu where they were staying for the week was pretty well kept. Honestly, Josuke was surprised at how nice it was, but it seemed that the Higashikatas and Fugo had a decent amount of money. Yasuho had also been pretty impressed when they first saw their rooms.

Thick carpets, plush beds, and rather ornate chairs. It clearly wasn't cheap. Josuke was sitting in one of those chairs now, but in Norisuke's room. The older man had taken a seat of his own, and it was just the two of them.

"Well, now that the story everyone else is getting is out there, it's time for the two of us to get down to business." Norisuke said, languidly swirling some dark drink in a shotglass gripped between two fingers.

"The story?" Josuke had no idea what he was talking about.

"Yeah. About working with Haato and the Italian to take down Stain. How I said that you students wouldn't be allowed to join the fight. It's a load of crap." Norisuke finished swirling the drink, and knocked it back in one gulp.

"Oh? So what's the truth then? Are we not here for Stain?" Josuke was a little confused. He figured the villain would be just the type of lead they were looking for.

"Oh we are. But it's going to be you and me taking him down. We're in this together." Norisuke said. "He suddenly developed a Stand, so we know he's in league with Whitesnake. As of right now, he may be our best lead, but you already know we can't let the others be involved."

Josuke understood. The others couldn't be involved because Norisuke and he were planning to go after Whitesnake and get their hands on **Crazy Diamond**. It wasn't even mildly legal for a student like him to be fighting, or for them to keep the Stand for themselves, so it was necessary to exclude everyone else.

Norisuke had already mentioned not wanting his children involved as well.

But maybe that thought he'd been sitting on for a while would hold merit.

"What about Yasuho?" He took the plunge and asked.

"Joshu's girlfriend?" The older man raised his eyebrow.

"She's not his girlfriend." Josuke bit out, a touch harsher than he'd intended. Norisuke clearly caught it, because he leaned back slightly.

"Okay, fine. I admit, I don't really pay much attention to her." The man held up a hand in placating gesture. "So that's why I don't understand your question. What _about _her?"

"Her Stand is possibly the best tracking Stand around. It doesn't even need a scent." Josuke said. "If we bring her into the plot, we could probably go straight to **Crazy Diamond**. And it would help having another Stand user as back up."

Norisuke hummed, and stood up. He made his way over to a counter, and poured himself another glass, making to drink it, before pausing a moment. He turned to Josuke.

"Want one? Just one, mind."

Josuke nearly replied _'but I'm underaged'_, before remembering they were in the midst of discussing far more egregious criminal plans.

"Might as well try it."

Norisuke poured him one, and brought it over. Handing it to Josuke, he sat back in his chair, before raising his own glass in a toast.

"To the health of Tsurugi, and Kira Holly." He said.

The drink burned in Josuke's throat, and he spluttered a bit, as Norisuke laughed.

"That tasted terrible." He said.

"God, it certainly does, doesn't it?" The older man chuckled a little more, before looking into his glass with a contemplative expression. "Back to your idea...

"I follow your logic. She would be useful, but I'm still a little concerned. I don't know her character too well, truthfully. What if we bring this to her attention, and she alerts the authorities? What we're doing is illegal."

"I can vouch for her. I believe in her." Josuke responded.

"I'll consider it then. Maybe we can use the hunt for Stain to gauge her potential. We have time, for now." The older man said.

Josuke let his eyes drop, conceding for the moment. _But I will bring it back up later._ He promised.

"So how are we going to do that? Hunt for Stain, that is."

"By breaking away from the others, of course. It'll happen every now and then, and when it does, we'll have our opportunity. I'll use **King Nothing** to track him down, and then we beat him up, squeeze him for info, and kill him. I'll tell the others that he wouldn't talk, and I had no choice but to kill him. They'll buy it easy enough."

"Yeah. That's how most Stand battles end, after all."

"Exactly. And that let's us get rid of evidence without drawing any suspicion."

* * *

"I can't capture Stain on my own, and it would be illegal for me to allow Born This Way or Paisley Park to help me. I really don't like this idea."

"We'll only be able to cover the necessary amount of ground by splitting up. We have the Hero Network, we can simply inform each other if we find him. It's hardly as though we'll be cut off from one another." Norisuke was nothing if not persistent. But Josuke understood. It was a needed deception.

"Sure, but in the time it would take to catch up to each other, anything could happen. Stain could kill the party he met, and be gone." Fugo didn't seem to like Norisuke's suggestion, and he was proving surprisingly intractable.

"But isn't that, like, always a risk? Anything could happen, sure. That's the job, though. I gotta be honest, I'm with my old man on this one." Haato said.

Fugo sighed.

"Besides." Norisuke said, pressing his advantage. "This gives us the opportunity to train our specific students, without the clutter of this big group. Face it Purple Haze, you knew something like this was inevitable."

"Fine. Fine!" Fugo said, throwing up his hands when Norisuke made to respond. "But let it be noted for when I'm inevitably proven right, I was opposed to this idea."

"Very well, your objection is noted. Now, Walking Heart. You take the east side. Purple Haze, the west. I'll take the centre."

"Gotcha!" Haato jogged off, Joshu following behind her.

Fugo didn't say anything, he simply walked off. Kyo followed his example, though likely more out of her own general stoicism than any strong agreement she may have had with the man.

"I'll see you later, Josuke! Remember, we gotta go try some local place for dinner while we're here!" Yasuho called out as she walked off with Fugo and Kira.

"I'm looking forward to it!" He replied.

When all the others were finally out of both view and earshot, Norisuke summoned his Stand.

"Well, let's get started looking for this guy. Come on, into the alleys."

**King Nothing **didn't have a scent for Stain, so for now they were travelling just as blind as the others. But what it did have was the ability to track blood. That was Norisuke's plan. They'd go along, waiting for Stain to attack a hero, and then they'd find the fight.

They'd defeat Stain, pump him for info, and then kill him. After that, they'd call the others on the Hero Network, and pretend to have just now located Stain. They'd claim they _just_ managed to kill him perhaps a minute before the others arrived. Of course, they'd need to be quick. If there were too many signs of a struggle left behind, the others might realise the fight had lasted longer than they claimed. They'd also need to get Stain's victim out of the way, so that they couldn't act as a witness, and disprove their lie.

And there likely would be a victim, seeing as that's how they planned to track Stain in the first place.

_That_ was something they'd have to play by ear. They wouldn't _kill_ the victim of course. They had other ways of preventing them from witnessing the events in their totality. Josuke could use **Soft and Wet** to take away their hearing. This way, they wouldn't know anything Stain said. Maybe they even sell the lie by pretending to bring out a phone, and pretending to talk into it, thus convincing the victim the alert on the Hero Network had taken place when they would claim it did.

The problems with that was if the fight took too long, and the backup arrived quickly after they made the alert. The victim might end up mentioning the lengthy response time, and thereby trigger the suspicions of the others.

They could also simply try to corral Stain into a different alleyway, or send the victim running if they weren't paralysed. The threat there was that the victim would certainly be a hero, and have access to the Hero Network. Even if if paralysed, the paralysis could wear off while the fight went on. _They_ might send an alert, far too early for Norisuke and Josuke. That would completely disrupt their plans.

They were really lucky Josuke had been told the Fugo's Quirk in class the previous day, as Norisuke hadn't had any idea. Overall, that Quirk was by far the biggest threat. If any evidence which could cast the slightest bit of suspicion onto their story appeared, Fugo was certain to see it. From there, he might unravel their entire plot.

It was definitely a conundrum. Everything had to go perfectly

"Josuke!" He looked behind him, from where his mentor's voice had come.

Josuke had been so caught up in his thoughts, he hadn't realised it when he was no longer next to Norisuke. The other man was several feet back in the alley, kneeling down on one knee. **King Nothing** was out, standing next to him. His face was pulled into a deep frown.

"Did you find something down there?"

"No! Something's wrong. I didn't mean to get in this position, my knee just gave out suddenly!" Norisuke's voice was steady, but he delivered his words in an urgent tone.

That familiar sensation of slickness, like oil filling his gut, came to him as **Soft and Wet** immediately materialised. Josuke whipped his head from side to side, searching for any threat. No one was in the alley.

"Can you move?" _This could be Stain._ He thought to himself.

"Yes. The rest of me is fine." Norisuke said, flexing his fingers. "It's just my damn knee. I don't think it's Stain."

At that moment Josuke's eyelids fell down, without his intent. He couldn't see anything around him, and a warm liquid fell down his face.

"Shit! Josuke, you're bleeding!" Norisuke said, before barking out a tense laugh. "It's definitely an attack. I knew I wasn't so old that my joints would give out."

"Yeah." Josuke said. He reached out, feeling around for the wall, and felt himself sway nearly off balance as he moved. When he found it, he placed his hand on the wall to steady himself.

"We're under attack, to be sure. But who's attacking us?"

* * *

"Oh shut up! You're so damn annoying!" It hadn't been ten minutes since they'd all split up, and Joshu was already _so_ tired of Haato's bullshit.

"Yup! It's an older sister's job to be annoying. And don't think you're wriggling your way out of this. You have to spill." She giggled a bit to herself.

They were walking through they alleys, towards their assigned section of Hosu. Bar a few jokes about his spandex outfit, and the belt she had _mistaken_ for a fanny pack, Haato had been mercifully professional as they were starting out.

She'd been talking about the mission, to begin with. She then transitioned to explaining a few aspects of the hero job, such as the Hero Network, or how Stand using heroes can get commissioned for work by the federal government if a villain was suspected to have a Stand, in a bit more detail.

It had felt like an _actual _job shadowing experience to Joshu. Well, up until she'd gotten onto _this_ tangent.

"Come on, you already know I'm just gonna keep asking. The only way to get through this is to tell me everything."

The worst part was that he _did _know from experience that was the only way. Whenever Haato caught the scent on a bit of gossip, she was unstoppable. This wasn't quite the same, but the principle was similar. It was Joshu's greatest nightmare.

His sister was determined to hear all about his time at UA and his classmates. It was _so_ embarrasing.

"Ugh. Fine. I'll tell you, but just a little." He rubbed his forehead, wishing Stain would hurry up and attack them so he could be spared the interrogation.

"Yes!" She let out a shout of victory, pumping her fist at the same time. "How are you doing in class? If you aren't kicking ass, we'll probably disown you." Haato teased.

"Well, I'm doing okay in math, but histor-"

"Boring!" She interrupted as quick as she could. He grinned a bit despite himself. He knew she wouldn't want to hear about academics, so of course he opened with that.

"Who cares about that, tell me about the fights!" Haato brought her arms up and punched her palm for emphasis.

"Well, I dominated the 2v2s, of course! I had a whole fight with one of my classmates, and beat her hard. Honestly, my partner was kinda dead weight, but I cinched the victory for us." Joshu bragged. It was true too, he knew. Sure, Bakugou might've beaten the big guy, but who cares about him. Earphone chick was way more trouble. "Yeah, I'm pretty much leading the class."

"Nice!" The look on her face was at odds with her praise though. She had an eyebrow raised, and a slight smirk played across her mouth. She didn't believe him for some reason.

"It's true!"

"Didn't say it wasn't." Haato laughed.

"But that's not juicy enough. Tell me about your classmates. Not the ones with us, but the others. Any cute girls?" She asked, grinning. Then she took a quick look at his spandex costume. "Or boys?"

"I _actually_ fucking hate you." He groaned. The class _was _filled with some smokin' babes, but there was no way in hell he'd tell her about that. The teasing he endured now would pale in comparison, should she catch wind of any possible new interests of his. She'd be relentless. "You know I only have eyes for Yasuho."

"Ugh, fiiiiine." She crinkled her nose. "I'll lay off the romance talk. Do you have any new little friends?"

Joshu rubbed his chin for a moment, thinking it over. Did he? Most of the others were a little intimidated by him. He didn't blame them, honestly. He knew it could be hard to approach him.

He was just too cool. Everyone was naturally awestruck.

It was blessedly quiet while he was thinking. Haato wasn't totally silent, she hummed while she walked, but it was better than the chatter. At least this way he could hear the cars and general background noise from the busy streets outside.

"Earth to Joshu? I asked if you have any friends?" But all nice things must come to an end.

"Yeah, a few. It's only been a few weeks, so I dunno if they classify as friends, but I get along with most people. There is one guy I've been hanging out with more recently, he's pretty cool." Joshu said.

"What's his Quirk?" Haato pressed as they passed underneath two connected buildings. The darkness went on for a while.

"Well, _that_ isn't very cool. He can make these sticky balls on his head and pop 'em off. Honestly, it's sorta lame, but apa-" He was cut off when she put her arm out in front of him.

"Hey, what're- wait, what the hell?"

He hadn't seen it in the darkness, distracted as he was by the conversation. Now that he'd been stopped, he noticed it for the first time. She'd been preventing him from falling into a massive pothole. It was bizarrely large, big enough to swallow an elephant whole.

"The city council must be going to the dogs if they can't fix something this dangerous." He muttered to himself.

"This is definitely weird." Haato mused. "Could it be the result of a Quirk? Might be recent. We may be the first to notice it."

She knelt down, and hummed to herself as if in thought.

"I can hear something inside..."

"What? Don't be ridiculous, it's just a pothole." Joshu said.

"Maybe not. It could lead somewhere else." Haato tapped the side of her jaw with a finger. "It could be the entrance to Stain's secret base! Well, probably not, but we won't know until we go in, right?"

"What? You wanna go in it?" Joshu stared at her with raised eyebrows and a wide mouth. "You have _got_ to be joking."

"Nope! Investigating weird shit is a hero's job!" She elbowed him, and he swore to himself that she _didn't _almost knock him over.

"So come on, you little wuss." She flashed a toothy grin at him, excitement dancing in her eyes. Then she held her nose like a scuba diver, and jumped in backwards.

"Ugh. Dammit…" Not to be outdone, Joshu followed after his sister, but _without_ any of her theatrics.

* * *

"Uh, Mister Purple Haze, are you sure? It'd make everything way easier." Yasuho asked, as they stopped at the crossing. Fugo had made a number of decisions she found somewhat questionable, such as taking the streets instead of the alleys, but this was probably the decision that confused her the most.

"I'm certain. Look, you don't have your Stand license, so you shouldn't be using it. The Japanese government has me on a bit of a tight leash. I'm a bit of an unknown quantity to them, and they're wary about that." Fugo sighed and carded a hand through his hair, before he pressed the pedestrian button.

"But they asked for you, right? Why would they request you if they're suspicious of you?" She scratched at her cheek. Yasuho really didn't get his reasoning. How could the government even find out he'd let her use **Paisley Park**?

"They didn't request me, specifically. They made a request to the Italian government. The Italian Federal Bureau of Superpower Management, to be precise. The Bureau got in touch with the… agency I work at, and my boss picked me." The light turned, and the three of them made their way across the street.

_That makes sense, I guess._ She thought to herself. They kept walking in silence for a minute.

People looked at them curiously as they walked around. Heroes typically drew attention, but it was increased heavily by Fugo's clearly foreign appearance. A few people were outright staring.

No one acknowledged them, in spite of the looks. They all seemed a little intimidated. The looks certainly held hints of trepidation. Kira's perpetual glower seemed to add to it. Yasuho tried to smile at the people they walked by to assuage their apparent misgivings. She took heart in the fact that it seemed to work a little. Most of the people seemed to relax, a few even returned her smile.

"You said your boss is half-Japanese, right? Why didn't he come?" Yasuho wondered. The looks all the people had been directing towards Fugo had her thinking on that.

"He's actually banned from entering Japan." The man admitted.

"Wait, what?" Yasuho definitely hadn't been expecting that. "Why? He's a hero, right?"

"Being a hero in Japan is different from being a hero in Italy. He did some things here that would have been perfectly legal in Italy, but most assuredly weren't here." Fugo rubbed the back of his head. "He's not a bad guy though, I promise. Just a little overzealous. All Might even tried to get the ban repealed for a bit, saying he'd done him a huge favour he couldn't repay, or something. But, the Japanese government was adamant."

_If that's the case, then whatever Fugo's boss did probably wasn't _that_ bad._ Yasuho was content to let it drop, but the other girl seemed to have her own thoughts.

"Your 'agency' is Passione, isn't it?" Kira spoke up, putting a strange emphasis on the word agency. Yasuho dropped her smile a bit in surprise.

She hadn't expected the other girl to start talking. Kira hadn't said a word since they went on patrol.

"…Have you looked me up, then?" Fugo asked, not looking at either of them. His voice was oddly grim, she felt.

"No. It just made sense. You wouldn't be here hunting Stain if you didn't have a Stand." Kira's tone seemed sorta heavy to Yasuho in spite of the quiet monotone she used. "I try to pay attention to other Stand users, even foreign ones. My brothers taught me it was necessary. Stand users attract one another, after all. That's why I've heard of Passione before, though the hero wiki didn't list you as a member at the time."

"I've… had a tumultuous employment record with them. I left before, but then rejoined, after the new boss tracked me down. Well, not like I had much of a choice." He heaved a bitter laugh.

"Uh, sorry, I'm a little lost. Why wouldn't you have a choice?" Yasuho didn't ask the other question nagging at her. Why were they talking about the agency so… _weirdly_?

"It's complicated." He said.

"Not really. Passione used to be a designated villain organisation." Kira said in a blithe tone, as if she were remarking on the weather.

"What?!" Yasuho shrieked. Heads turned all round them to look at her, and she could feel the blood rush to her face. "Uh, sorry."

They walked on in silence, while Yasuho plastered a strained, nervous smile to her face, chiding herself for the embarrassing outburst for a minute. They passed through a plaza with a bronze monument in the centre. _'In memory of those who lost their lives to the rampaging villain, Blue Vengeance' _was inscribed at the top, with a list of names underneath.

The plaza was crowded, and Yasuho didn't feel comfortable continuing the conversation with so many people around. The others seemed to have the same idea, since they continued on in silence, crossing the plaza. Once the crowds had thinned a little, and they had less attention on them, she spoke again in a harsh but low voice.

"What do you mean it was a villain organisation? Mister Purple Haze is supposed to be a hero, right?" She asked Kira.

"I am now. But..." He trailed off.

They stopped at another crossing, and Yasuho's thoughts were running at a thousand miles an hour. Was Fugo a villain? Did UA know? They had to, there's no way they hired someone without vetting them at least a little! Should they still be _following_ him around the city?!

"Most gangs and mafias and such went the same way as the yakuza here in Japan, once superpowers became well established in society." Kira seemed to ignore Yasuho's panicked confusion as she spoke. "Quirks meant that a single villain who had lucked out in the genetic lottery would be able to get much further in the underground than entire groups of organised criminals. The organisations which once ruled the underworld became obsolete."

The light changed, and they walked across the road. Yasuho was thankful they weren't in too big a crowd now, considering the turn the conversation had taken. There were only a couple of others around them. The only one close enough to overhear them was a strange looking person with some sort of stick figure mutation Quirk. They didn't seem to be reacting to the conversation, but with no facial features, it was hard to tell. Maybe she was just being paranoid.

"Passione was different from the other criminal groups." Fugo took over the explanation, jolting Yasuho from her thoughts. "The boss had an arrow. The same kind that stabbed you, Paisley Park. With it, he bred Stands into his followers, and with that power, he conquered the Italian underworld. My own Stand was a product of that arrow, in fact."

"Bred Stands?" Kira asked, her voice taking on an uncharacteristic sharpness. It stood out, when compared to her normal lax tone. "What, like DIO?"

"Exactly like DIO. Relax, the old boss is dead now, he's no threat to anyone." Fugo's words didn't seem to help settle Kira. She still wore an uncertain frown.

"But you said Hirose got stabbed." Kira turned her attention to Yasuho. "Is that really how you gained your Stand? If there's an arrow out there somewhere, we're in a very bad situation."

"Y-yeah, that's where my Stand comes from… but I didn't expect Mister Purple Haze to know about that." She felt a little awkward. Of course he knew, she'd told the school when she sent along the details of her abilities.

She wasn't sure why she felt like she didn't want people to know. It was hardly as though it somehow made her less of a Stand user than those born with theirs.

"But more importantly, can we get back on topic? I'm pretty concerned about this whole villain thing!" Yasuho had the presence of mind to keep her voice low as she shouted this time. The result was her sentence coming out as a heated whisper.

She probably didn't need to, a lot of the attention which had been on them earlier seemed to have waned. Most people were gawking at a few cosplayers, who'd donned very lifelike costumes of popular anime characters.

"Yes, the 'whole villain thing' is also important." Kira admitted. "I thought you might be a late addition, but you said you'd been in Passione prior to the new boss' rise to power. If you were, you must have been a villain. How did you escape jail time? Is that what you meant when you said you had no choice?"

"No. The justice system over there was pretty corrupt at the time, so going to jail wasn't much of a risk. My crimes weren't that egregious either, mostly just protection racket shit, and there wasn't really a large amount of evidence against me. Overall, I'd basically gotten away with everything." Fugo pinched the bridge of his nose between two fingers.

"No, the reason I had no choice but to rejoin Passione was because I was afraid the new boss would kill me."

Yasuho's jaw dropped, for what felt like the hundredth time since the conversation had taken this turn.

"But, he's a hero, right? Why would he kill you?" So many things about this just weren't adding up.

"You have to understand. Most Stand battles result in death. This has already been explained to you, am I right?" Yasuho nodded slowly, acknowledging the point. "Things are even more… _intense_ in Italy. The courts weren't very strong, even more so back then. Even Quirk fights ran a serious chance of resulting in death.

"In a way, you've all been… spoiled, I suppose, by living in the country protected by All Might." Fugo said. "It used to be much worse in Japan. People feared villains, truly feared them in a way they're only now starting to remember.

"In most parts of the world, that fear never really went away. America got away from the worst of it, I guess. All Might went there for a while, and sleazy as he was, Captain Celebrity helped out too. But that's it. Even though Star Platinum went through Hong Kong, Singapore, Western Asia, and Egypt, he mostly only fought Stand-using villains. And that accounts for the top three heroes worldwide. Most of the world had to fend for itself, and that left certain parts a bit more brutal than the others."

"And Italy was one such place?" Yasuho asked, quietly. She already knew what he'd say. Some part of her heart hurt. She'd always known how the onset of Quirks had altered society, but it was human nature to turn a blind eye to suffering that occurred on the other side of the world. Up until someone who'd lived through it told you about it to your face.

"It's better now. The new boss is a top ten hero globally, even if the laws he upholds are a bit more grey than the ones here." Fugo said. "Even if he kills most of his opponents, whether they have Stands or not. That sort of thing is normal there."

Yasuho recoiled a bit at the thought. "Is that why he's banned from Japan?"

"Yes. He killed a villain, here in Hosu, in fact, who was only using their Quirk. You're already aware lethal force isn't allowed on most villains in this country. The government was also aware of his ties to the Italian underworld. The ban was strongly supported.

"But because of that brutality, you feared he might kill you." Kira noted.

"I was a rogue Stand user, who'd been involved in criminal activity in the past. I suppose you could say Gold Experience 'pardoned' all of the villains who'd come to his side. But he killed the ones who opposed him.

"I hadn't opposed or supported him, so I thought I was free of it all. Until he tracked me down, that is. At that point, I had to join up. I did a job for him, hunting down some traitors as a vigilante, and he brought me back into the organisation and got me a hero license." Fugo stated.

"How did a villain organisation get turned into a hero agency though? That's so strange." Yasuho wondered, as they came to another crossing.

They stopped, but the person behind them with the stick figure Quirk didn't seem to expect it. He walked right into Kira, shoulder checking her.

"Hey! Rude..."

"Italy is a completely different place compared to Japan. You have to remove your preconceptions." Fugo said, ignoring Kira's muttering.

"Corruption is much stronger there. In fact, Passione still rules the underworld. The hero agency is a front." Yasuho could barely believe what she was hearing, but Kira didn't seem to care. She was shouting something at the stick figure person as they walked past her, but Yasuho's attention was totally focused on Fugo as he continued to speak. "Well, as both the premiere hero _and _crime lord in the country, Gold Experience makes sure that crime is much more manageable and less harmful than it was before, so-"

A loud crashing sound cut him off, and Yasuho whipped her head forward, looking away from Fugo and towards the source of the commotion.

The stick figure person was laying in the middle of the road, right in front of a car. There was a dent in the hood.

"They wouldn't stop walking!" Kira said, her voice filled with horror. "I tried telling them the light was still-" She stopped talking suddenly.

The person had stood back up. Ignoring the car that hit them, and all the other cars and pedestrians which had stopped to see what was going on, they continued walking forward at a leisurely pace.

"What the hell?"

"Hey, are you okay?"

The stick figure didn't respond to any of the people calling out. Fugo rushed forward across the street, made easier with all the cars stopped while the drivers stared. He caught up to the person in seconds, and grabbed their shoulder.

"Explain yourself. What's going on here?" His hold prevented them from moving, but Yasuho could see their feet continuing to lift and drop down, like they were doing a walk in place exercise.

They didn't respond to Fugo's questioning or make any indication whatsoever that they noticed him.

"Purple Haze! Look at the lights!" Kira called out. He turned his head to face them, before his jaw dropped.

Yasuho had been so focused on the person's bizarre behaviour that she hadn't noticed the motion.

Another stick figure was pulling itself out of one of the pedestrian walk lights. It pressed the nubby ends of its arms against the sides of the light, and pushed. It fell to the road, while the crowd stared.

And then it started walking.

Fugo let go of the one he had a hold on, and stared past them. The other slowly walked up towards his side of the crossing, but he ignored it.

"Mister Purple Haze?" Yasuho called out tentatively.

"These things might be dangerous, we should capture them." Kira said. "The collateral damage, just from walking in front of traffic alone-"

"That's not our current concern." Fugo interrupted her, still staring past them.

"They could cause more car accidents!" Kira argued. She moved to take a step forward, but stopped as the ground began shaking.

A shadow came over them. It was humanoid in shape, but stretched out far enough to cover the entire street.

Yasuho slowly turned around, and looked directly at a massive robot, standing as tall as a building.

"That," Fugo stated in a dark voice. "Is our current concern."


	17. Sky High

Chapter 17 – Sky High

"Where is the attack coming from? That's what we need to figure out right now." Norisuke said.

"How do we do that though? We never even saw it take place!" Josuke responded, gripping tighter onto the wall in his frustration, feeling the rough texture of the bricks scrape against his fingers. "I never even saw our opponent."

The alley was totally empty, but for the two of them. There was no sound that seemed out of place. All Josuke could hear was Norisuke's and his own breathing, and the passing cars from the nearby streets.

"Did you feel anything before you fell?" He asked the older man.

"No. My knee just gave out. The attack was too sudden to figure out." Norisuke grunted. "Did you feel anything? Anything at all?"

"No, it was the same with me as it was with you. My eyelids just suddenly stopped responding." Josuke said, through gritted teeth. No matter how hard he thought about it, he just couldn't figure out how their enemy was attacking them.

"I know you don't have much training with your Quirk, but you need to use it." Norisuke said. "You have the Joestar family Quirk. The ripple can manipulate your body. You can use it to fight against this!"

Josuke frowned.

"Not yet. You're right when you say my ripple Quirk is well suited to combat the symptoms of this attack. But, that's all it can do. We shouldn't be focusing on the symptoms, but the root cause instead!" Next to him, **Soft and Wet** began sending out several bubbles. He couldn't see it, but he felt his command go through. "These attacks aren't enough to defeat us. Our opponent must commit to even more attacks. That's when we'll catch him!"

The bubbles all began to surround him, forming a strange sort of armour. He felt a little bad, he didn't have enough to surround Norisuke with.

"Josuke! What are you doing? How will your bubbles help us?" Norisuke's voice was muted as it came through the layer of soap surrounding Josuke.

"King Nothing. I need you to remember." Movement hit one of the bubbles, and in an instant, the bubble drew it inside. "My hero name is Soft and Wet. Not Josuke."

He inhaled, feeling the power fill his lungs, and then sent the ripple out through his body, lifting his eyelids and clearing his vision. The rest of the bubbles dispersed, and only the one which had caught the attack remained.

Inside it was a strange organism. A white worm-like creature, but much more rigid, and covered in frills which spiralled across its length. It had no eyes, and no mouth.

"Is this the attack? This isn't a Stand, it's a physical organism, right? Could this be the result of someone's Quirk?" Josuke wondered.

"The fact that the two of us were attacked is no coincidence." Norisuke said, fixing his eyes on the organism. "I find it unlikely our assailant is relying on a simple Quirk. No, we have to assume this is the _work_ of a Stand, even if the method itself isn't one. There are Stands like that in this world. Ones that utilise natural phenomena. This is one such Stand."

**King Nothing **rushed forward, from its master's side, and up to the creature suspended in the bubble. Several puzzle pieces broke off of the Stand, and attached themselves to the outside of the bubble. Josuke let them inside a moment later, and they immediately set to surrounding the organism.

"Okay. I've got the scent now. That was good work. Now we can track the enemy's attacks."

The stray puzzle pieces returned to **King Nothing**. The Stand reformed, briefly, before breaking apart entirely in a swirl of motion. The puzzle pieces split into several new wholes, all of them copies of the organism trapped in Josuke's bubble.

They began flitting around the alley at incredible speeds, to quick to track.

"King Nothing? What's going on?" Josuke wasn't sure _why_ **King Nothing** was suddenly going too fast to see.

"The organisms are moving too fast. With my Stand set to follow them at the same speeds, it becomes impossible to follow with the naked eye." Norisuke murmured. "But that's fine for me. I don't need to see my Stand's pieces."

The older man closed his eyes, and adopted a look of intense concentration.

"Sometimes **King Nothing** will capture a scent and follow it without my knowledge. Usually I don't pay much attention to everything it does… but if I focus, that changes." He said, so quietly Josuke barely caught it. "Our Stands are a part of us. When I really focus… I can feel it. There!"

Norisuke's eyes shot open, and he pointed his hand outwards, firing a fine stream of sticky fluid into the air. The stream crashed into something mid-air, and carried it to the ground. The substance solidified immediately, affixing the organism to the ground.

Norisuke didn't seem to take much pride in the victory, however, judging by his deep frown.

"That's one down, but… I can feel several more around us. And even if we get rid of them all, who's to say our assailant can't simply call forth more."

"Then taking them all down one by one isn't a realistic option. We need to find the enemy." Josuke said in a heavy tone. "We're back at square one."

"Hardly. We can defend ourselves now. That's important."

"But how do we find them?" Josuke wondered. "**King Nothing**'s tracking is limited to those creatures. You still don't have scent of their master, and they'll certainly remain hidden and pick us off from a distance."

"That just means we have to draw them out." Norisuke said. "Consider this part of your training. Ranged Stands always use tactics like this. With a close range Stand like yours, a battle with a ranged Stand will always be about luring the user out."

Josuke's phone vibrated in his pocket, but he didn't pay any attention to it.

"Can we do that?" He wondered. "This ability is incredibly dangerous and hard to counter, but only at range. Why would the Stand user show themselves?"

"I didn't realise it until I set my Stand to track the creatures, but it would appear they're constantly rushing towards us. They're trying to attack most of the time. Why then, have they only managed to affect us twice?"

The older man shot Josuke a wan smile.

"They're far too imprecise. They can't manage critical strikes, even when there are only the two of us here. When we go out into the streets, it will impossible to hit us. The crowds will further confuse their strikes."

"You want to use civilians as shields?" Josuke choked out, his eyebrows so high they nearly met his sailor's hat.

"No, the strikes will be too imprecise to do any real damage to them. Doing any serious harm will be beyond the enemy's capabilities." Norisuke rubbed the back of his neck as he spoke, a motion made more awkward by the heavy gauntlet on his hand. "Look, if I thought there was any chance of collateral damage, I wouldn't suggest it."

"…Fine. If you're certain."

"I am." Norisuke fired another stream onto the side of one of the buildings making up the alley. When it solidified into a line, stuck to the wall, he grabbed onto it. With a glance back towards Josuke, he pulled himself up, lifting off of his useless knee.

"Come on, Soft and Wet. We have a villain to draw out." With a kick from his good leg, Norisuke sent himself swinging down the alley on the makeshift rope.

"Right." Josuke chased after him.

* * *

In this world, society was built to support those who had been born lucky. Those with strong Quirks were given every advantage, and those with weak ones were left to pick up the slack.

Rikiel had been born unlucky, in a more literal sense than anyone else. His Quirk was strong enough, but it was because of that strength he had no luck. Even a weak Quirk, or being born entirely Quirkless would have been a better lot in life.

He'd never known his father. His recollection of his mother was vague for the most part, and dominated by the smell of disinfectants, and the sight of sterile white walls.

Fahr's Disease is characterised by calcium deposits building up in certain parts of the brain. The calcification has no discernable cause, earning it the moniker 'idiopathic'. The first symptoms are fatigue, diminished hand-eye coordination, and loss of stability. Later, as it progresses, paralysis.

The final result of all degenerative neurological disorders is death.

The condition is usually hereditary. By the late 20th century, fewer than twenty families were diagnosed with it. The figure stayed steady, moving from a low of ten to a high of forty afflicted families over the centuries. To the consternation of the doctors, his mother's family had never suffered from it, not a single case.

Well, while it was _usually_ familial, there were recorded cases of it manifesting seemingly at random, so his mother developing it so suddenly wasn't unheard of. What was unheard of was the rate at which her condition progressed.

It typically took decades to result in death. Those afflicted may still have the chance to live full, healthy lives. Rikiel's mother had died only three years after her diagnosis, while he was still nine years old. To suddenly develop such a rare disorder, and with such aggressive symptoms. What were the odds?

Rikiel walked past a parked car, stumbling slightly as he passed, despite the smooth even surface of the pavement. A bit of debris flew by, hitting the car's side mirror and shattering it.

He never got a driver's license. Whenever he tried to drive, the tires would usually go flat. Once, he managed to nearly complete his driver's test. But it was cut short two minutes before he would have passed, when the traffic lights malfunctioned and he ended up t-boning a sedan. Four people died, but Rikiel walked away without a scratch.

After that incident, he never tried for a license again.

Further along the pavement he was walking on, several goblins swarmed over a group of unlucky pedestrians, hacking at them with dull, crudely-fashioned blades, before running off to find more victims. He couldn't help but examine the gore as he passed by, trying to make sense of the muscles and bones that had been scattered along the ground.

It was sort of like a puzzle. There was an ulna, split in two, but the radial next to it was pristine. The elbow they were attached to had probably been originally connected with the body two feet away, judging by the matching wounds on the bicep.

Some part of his mind had always been fascinated by anatomy, and medical phenomena in general. Was it related to his mother? Well, he preferred not to think about that.

Someone with a beaver mutation Quirk rushed past him, shoving her key into the door of a car. Her hands were shaking. A tremor in the metacarpals translated to similar tremors in the phalanges, and her motions became imprecise. Her buck teeth chattered. Her flat tail kept thwacking a staccato beat against the pavement as she looked behind herself, checking on a group of zombies slowly shuffling after her.

The key scratched the area around the lock a couple of times, before finally inserting itself in. She wasted no time in wrenching the door open and throwing herself inside, pulling the door closed behind her. She put the key into the ignition and turned. As Rikiel watched on, it spluttered and stalled. She screamed as the horde began walked up to the car and began banging on the doors and windows.

Rikiel walked on, wobbling slightly as he put his awkward legs back into motion. The chaos was concerning. He didn't wish for this much collateral damage, but he had no control over another person's Stand. The strife he was responsible for was limited solely to the misfortune that occurred in his immediate surroundings. But in a disaster zone, his Quirk became all the more horrifying. This had to be finished quickly.

His primary focus right now had to be the Stand users. Whitesnake had sent him and his brothers on a mission, and the priest had given him his life back after he showed Rikiel his Stand. He would not fail.

* * *

Another explosion rocked the side of a building, sending debris flying through the air. Josuke gaped at the robot who'd caused it, a humanoid construct with rockets in its arms. Earlier, when he'd punched it, it had just turned into paper, absorbing the blow. When it reverted back, the robot was completely undamaged.

All around them, the streets were in chaos. Fantastical creatures ran amok, attacking people indiscriminately. The carnage was terrible, and Josuke could barely keep his mind on the mission. He wanted to help out desperately, to stop the rampaging monsters.

With Norisuke's knee still out of sorts, and them no longer being in an alley where Norisuke's Quirk could fashion makeshift ropes, their mobility was limited.

If Josuke rushed off on his own, their opponent might kill the older man, and then him. If he stood by, he was condemning people to death, but if he went to their aid, he'd be playing right into their opponent's hands. He was damned if he did, and if he didn't.

"Do we stop this? Or focus on our opponent? Damn it, I have no idea what we should do!" Josuke grit his teeth.

"Listen, Soft and Wet. The job of a hero is to do both." His mentor responded. "We fight villains _and_ save people. The test of a true hero is whether or not they can do both at once."

On the other side of the street, a giant red beast in a loincloth and helmet brandished a nodachi against a pair of young men, who were begging for their lives. Norisuke fired a jet of fluid at the monster, sticking its arm against the wall and holding it place. The two men wasted no time in running for their lives.

"Attacks don't work on these things. They just turn into paper. But it appears we can affect them in other ways." Norisuke observed.

Two race cars zipped across the road, one red and the other blue. Their license plated read '**NUM1**' and '**NUM2**' respectively.

"Wait, are those- I recognise those cars!" Norisuke said, confused. "They're from that racing game I got Joshu. What the hell?"

"I think we have bigger problems than a street race." Josuke said. "The city is under attack from… something strange. Could this be our enemy's true power?"

Norisuke rubbed his chin. "I don't think so, honestly. It just doesn't seem to line up with what was hitting us earlier. This method is way different."

"There's no way this is a coincidence, though!" Josuke protested.

"No, there isn't. I don't think the attack is coming from one person. I think it's a group of Stand users."

"Damn! They must be affiliated with Stain, and the League. That's why they're here."

"Agreed. We've found ourselves in the centre of the League's next attack. But they made a mistake." Norisuke noted.

Josuke slowly straightened up as the realisation hit him. He was glad to see they were on the same wavelength.

"Yeah. With multiple enemies out here on the offensive… we stand a better chance of gaining information."

"In order to gain this information, wouldn't you first have to defeat your opponent?" A new voice called out from behind them.

They turned to see a man in a cow-patterned outfit, with pink dreadlocks coming out from his scalp. He swayed slightly as he stood there, looking at them.

A familiar hiss signalled the robot was about to attack again. An explosion hit a building in between the two of them, flinging rocks and dust all around them, but the newcomer didn't flinch.

"I take it you're one of the Stand users responsible for this." Norisuke said.

The man raised his arm, showing them a green, lizard-like Stand attached to his arm.

"My villain name is Sky High. My Stand- of the same name, naturally- allows me to control the rods. I believe you captured a couple before fleeing the alley."

"Then you're not the one responsible for all this chaos?" Josuke asked.

Sky High frowned at that, looking out over the carnage unfolding in the middle of the street.

"No. My only target is the two of you." He rubbed the back of his head, seemingly in thought. "When I was younger, I didn't understand the appeal of All Might. He just punches people, right? What kinda skill is that?"

Josuke paused, staring at the villain in disbelief. _What kinda non-sequitur is this? Aren't we in the middle of a fight?_

"Anyone lucky enough to be born with a Quirk like that could beat up a few villains. Why did I have to see his face plastered on posters everywhere? Hear his voice in interviews all the time?"

A massive shadow passed overhead. A flying saucer drifted across the sky, almost languidly. The two heroes kept their eyes on Sky High, wary of any move he might try to make, but made no attempt to interrupt his ramblings.

"But now I understand! It was never about beating up villains, or winning fights. It was about his indomitable spirit! The indomitable spirit of humanity!

"That's what drives humanity. All the great achievements throughout history. Apollo Eleven, the eradication of smallpox. It's that spirit which lets people refuse lifeboats on a sinking ship, so that others can survive. It's what lets soldiers fight in wars, throwing their own lives away for what they believe in!" A feral glint shone in the man's eyes, as he took a step forward, teetering perilously with the motion.

_He's insane. _Josuke realised. _Completely insane._

"Is he plastered?" Norisuke wondered in a low murmur, too quiet for the villain to hear.

"I have that same spirit now. I'm going to fight you in the name of it. I'm going to win, because of it." He let out a bitter laugh, at odds with his self-aggrandising speech. "Now that I'm closer to the two of you, my control of the rods is finer. You'll die here."

Norisuke fired a stream of fluid out, coating a rod and bringing down as it moved to attack him. He turned back to the villain, lifting a single eyebrow as he stared him down. Mocking him.

"You can sense my attacks. But your partner can't. And my rods move too fast for you to tell him what direction to defend in." Sky High said.

Josuke's hand began swelling. The stiffness was incredible, he couldn't move a single finger. But the symptom was easy to manage. He simply pushed more of the ripple through it, turning it back to normal.

"My Ripple is perfect counters to your Stand, Sky High." Josuke said. "And you have no defensive ability. Your 'spirit' has only led you to your defeat."

**Soft and Wet** began spewing out bubbles. A miniature cloud of them drifted towards the villain, who drew back, watching them with a wary eye.

A hiss sounded out. The villain glanced off to the side. It was followed by yet another rocket, slamming into a wall not six feet from where Josuke and Norisuke were standing. The explosion sent tremors through the ground, and Josuke had to crouch low to avoid being thrown off balance.

The dust kicked up by the explosion hung in the air, reducing visibility severely. Josuke could no longer make out Sky High.

"Of all the shitty luck." Norisuke griped, from somewhere next to him. Josuke couldn't see him clearly, despite how close he was. All he saw was a shadow where he knew the man to be kneeling.

Josuke pressed his lips together in a thin line, and brought his bubbles back. He absorbed the dust into them, scrubbing the air clean. His vision was no longer obscured, but it didn't help. In the time it took for them to regain their bearings, Sky High had disappeared.

"He can't have gotten far. Be on the lookout for him." Norisuke said.

"Were you able to get his scent?"

"No. **King Nothing **was too busy tracking the rods." Norisuke admitted with a frustrated groan.

Josuke kept looking around their perimeter. The villain had to be hiding somewhere nearby, but where?

His arm went limp at the shoulder, and Josuke pulsed his ripple through it, putting it back into working order. Norisuke fired another stream out, disabling a rod that had been about to strike him.

A hiss sounded from the street. Determined not to be caught off guard again, Josuke looked to where the robot was taking aim. A single salaryman was sprinting away, and the robot's arm tracked him.

"**Soft and Wet**!" Josuke shouted, sending a bubble over to the robot. When it popped on the robot, sparks began shooting out from its neck and head. It swivelled suddenly, and fired the rocket it had primed at the flying saucer overhead, blasting a hole into it while the ship was in the middle of abducting several cars with a levitation ray.

"What was that? Why didn't you just take away its power?" Norisuke questioned, though his light tone indicated he wasn't seeking to criticise.

"That thing operates with some sort of Identify Foe Friendly protocol. By taking away power to its processor, I caused its IFF to malfunction. On the occasions when it _does _fire at a living target, it will aim for the other monsters." Josuke scoffed, narrowing his eyes as he looked at one of those very creatures running along the road. "We might only be able to affect them, and not physically damage them, but it's as I suspected. They can damage each other. What's better? A defeated foe, or an enemy working for your own benefit?"

"Clever. We'll make a hero out of you yet." Norisuke said, flashing him a small smile.

"So, that's how your Stand fights. Its bubbles pop on something, and in doing so, perform the action of 'taking something away'." Sky High's voice emanated from behind them. Josuke spun on his heels to face the villain.

"Valuable information. I also assume your Quirk is the very same ripple that the descendants of the Joestar family posses." The villain turned his attention to Norisuke, who glared at him quietly. "Your Stand, on the other hand, let's you track things if you have their 'scent'. That's how you defend against my rods. And you've demonstrated your Quirk enough times for a monkey to figure it out."

"Do you think you'll win just because you've made a few easy observations?" Norisuke growled out. "You still have no way to get past my defence, or inflict permanent harm on Soft and Wet. You don't stand a chance. Surrender, and tell us everything you know about the League of Villains."

"The League? Who cares about those lowlifes?" Sky High let out a quiet laugh. "I only serve Whitesnake. He's the one who showed me my potential, and the importance of an indomitable spirit. Whitesnake is the one with the vision and ability needed to remake this world."

Josuke's eyes lit up, and next to him, Norisuke sucked in a sharp breath, before grinning wide.

"Well, I had no idea we'd get _this_ lucky. Fine, the League is just a means to end. I'd _much_ rather find out everything you know about Whitesnake." Norisuke laughed deeply, the sound coming from his stomach.

Sky High quirked an eyebrow.

"You both use your own Quirks frequently in combat, as complements to your Stands. Yet you think you'll beat me, without even knowing what my Quirk is." The villain pulled several knives out of his pockets, dropping one from a shaky hand as he did so. But he managed to manoeuvre them so that he was pinching the tips of the blades.

_There's no way he'll throw those. _Josuke thought. _He clearly can't manage that much, with the way he's moving._

But Sky High defied expectations when he pitched them all high into the air, wholly lacking any grace or technique.

The blades began raining down directly above them.

**Soft and Wet** rushed forward, shouting 'Ora Ora Ora' as it punched the blades to the side. Next to him, Norisuke spouted off a fountain of fluid. It was much less focused than his usual streams, something Josuke expected the nozzles in his gauntlets helped control.

The result was the fluid only went a short distance up, before falling back down in a semicircle fashion. It hardened in that position, looking like an umbrella. The knives embedded themselves in the structure.

"That attack was way too precise. Those should have just fallen at random, but instead they all went straight for us." Norisuke muttered. "He mentioned his Quirk. Does it improve his accuracy?"

Josuke didn't respond. He could smell something strange. Something like gasoline. A glance to the cars parked near them showed the problem. One of the knives **Soft and Wet **had deflected went straight into the side of a car. The fuel tank was ruptured, and leaking gas into the air.

A hissing sound alerted Josuke, and he looked at the robot. It had a rocket primed, and was aiming it directly a stick figure, which happened to be walking straight towards the two of them.

With no time to think, Josuke ran and tackled Norisuke, his momentum carrying them away from the pavement and out into the street, in the direction opposite the damaged vehicle.

It had been just in time. The new explosion, far more massive than any of the others due to the gas leak, rumbled so loud he felt like he'd gone half deaf. A bright fire spread out into the air, above where they were sprawled in the road.

A glance back confirmed it. The portion of the pavement where they'd been standing was scorched black. They'd been nearly taken out, not by the enemy Stand, but by sheer chance.

Josuke lifted himself to his feet, and sent out a line of bubbles towards Sky High. The villain stumbled as he tried to keep his distance from the bubbles. The outcome was clear, the man simply lacked the alacrity to get out of the way. Josuke was sure now. He'd take the villain's sight. With that done, he'd be able to close the distance and put an end to the battle without Sky High being able to fight back.

But his attack was interrupted by the ground shaking. Sky High swayed too hard and fell, crashing into the pavement. With such a quick motion, the bubbles went right over him.

An enormous shadow fell over the street. The source proved to be a massive mech, stomping along with surprising speed. It was an unbelievable sight on its own, but what made it more insane was the pink haired girl standing on its shoulder, her hand on its neck.

Josuke was about to call out to Yasuho, until he heard a hissing sound behind him.

_Damn IFF!_ He thought in horror.

A rocket flew by, impacting the mech's arm. Yasuho was flung off, screaming as the momentum of a stampeding giant was harshly interuppted, but she was just able to grab onto some groove in the metal of the mech's back as she fell. It heaved back, flailing as it tried to right itself. Amidst all of the jerky movements, an immense leg flashed out and kicked a nearby car hard. The vehicle went careening through the air, straight towards them. In seconds, he and Norisuke would be a set of limbs and organs strewn across the road.

Josuke slapped himself across the face with one hand, and slammed his other into Norisuke's chest while the man lay prone. His heart was pounding as the car barreled towards them, and his breath was coming out it short, quick bursts. _I'm hyperventilating. _He realised. Panic filled his body, his veins thrumming, and Josuke _screamed _as he willed every ounce of his power into his hands.

The car flew harmlessly overhead, maybe a foot off the ground. That was fine, considering Josuke had shrunk the two of them down to a few inches. His arms burned, and he couldn't feel his fingers. Sweat dripped down his brow, stinging his eyes. This was his limit. No, this was _past_ his limit. He'd never used Josefumi's Shrinking to shrink anything so much before, and to use that Quirk on _two_ things? It was too much.

The mech teetered dangerously from all the sudden shocks to its stability, both the rocket hit, and stumbling into the car, as well as its own momentum attempting to continue onwards. It nearly fell. For a moment, Josuke was certain it would, and his heart wrenched, imaging what would happen to Yasuho if she were crushed under its back. He'd never be able to forgive himself.

It managed to arrest its fall, however, by reaching out and dragging several fingers through a building. The crunch of the brick breaking, coupled with the screech that came from the metal fingers sliding along what wasn't immediately broken was ear splitting. But it served the purpose of breaking the machine's momentum, and helping it regain its balance.

The mech continued to thunder on down the road, fading out of sight.

_Yasuho… no. I should trust her to see to the rest of this. Right now, my focus needs to be on my own battle._ He thought. _And my own injuries._

Josuke tried to lift his arm. He was able to raise it as far as his chest before it gave out, and fell back to his side. Norisuke lifted himself back up into a kneeling pose.

The mech's sudden, chaotic appearance and departure left the street in a momentary silence. Even the other strange creatures seemed briefly cowed. But the silence was soon broken by a loud _creeeeak_ emanating from above. Several banging sounds followed.

Josuke looked up, to see the building the mech had broken its fall on shifting. Shattered bricks fell out from the gouges in the wall, several of them lumped together like clay in crude shapes from the sheer force exerted upon them.

A crack appeared. It began at the top of the second highest furrow, and ran up to meet the highest. The largest piece yet broke off from this combination of damage, and began to fall. The section of debris was the size of a grown man. Owing to its starting height, it ended up gaining the most distance from the building as it fell.

Specifically, it fell diagonally, heading straight towards the two heroes. Josuke let loose a strangled gasp.

With their current sizes, it would end up destroying them entirely. And he was out of energy, he no longer had the strength to move his body. Once more, they were in danger of being reduced to a bloody smear on the street.

Norisuke grabbed his arm, and fired a stream of fluid at the undercarriage of a nearby bus which had been abandoned in the middle of the road. He kicked off as it solidified, and they went swinging across the street, before landing somewhat roughly underneath the bus. It offered them protection from the debris, at least.

"What on earth is _happening_?" Norisuke groaned, slightly out of breath. The older man grimaced as he massaged the wrist he made the newest stream with.

It occurred to Josuke that his mentor must be reaching his limit too. Quirks were physical abilities, and Norisuke had been using his nearly non-stop, in continuously flashy ways. It had to be wearing on him.

Josuke wasn't feeling any better himself. His hair was damp with sweat, stuck to his forehead, and he realised that at some point he'd lost his hat.

"This is absurd..." He hissed out, barely able to fill his lungs before having to expel his breath again. "H-how… the _heck_..."

Norisuke shook his head. "I don't know. Really, I have no idea. Those events, they weren't the result of either **Sky High**, or the Stand wreaking havoc in the city. But there was no coincidence."

"Was that… his Q-quirk?" Josuke stammered out through his clenched jaw.

"Yeah. I think so. The knives, the gas, the car being kicked, and the falling debris. Somehow, his Quirk lets him manipulate probability. That's what he was talking about."

_He was right._ Josuke thought. _We assumed victory too early, and now look at us._

"How do we handle that?" He asked.

Norisuke shot him a look somewhere between a grin and a grimace. "Violently, of course. Capturing and interrogating him is no longer a priority. Survival is. It's time to use lethal force."

Josuke nodded, and looked around, deep in thought. He couldn't use his physical abilities anymore. Neither his body or Quirks were capable of responding to his commands any more. His only hope was his Stand.

* * *

His Stand should have been unstoppable! With his knowledge of anatomy, and his ability to target certain spots, he could've induced so many diseases or weaknesses in his opponents. But he couldn't even permanently harm either of them!

They had disappeared, but Rikiel wasn't nearly fool enough to lower his guard. With all the chaos caused by his Quirk, he'd lost sight of his targets. That made them more dangerous than ever before. He brought his hand up to his mouth, biting at his thumb nail.

_What if they launch a sneak attack? They were right, their abilities are too well suited for fighting me. And I don't have enough control over my Quirk! I'm going to lose, they're going to kill me!  
_

Sweat was rolling down his face, and his breathing was so rapid it almost sounded like a machine gun. He bit down further on his fingernail, hitting the skin and drawing blood.

_I'm going to fail Whitesnake, and after he gave me my life back!_

His internal panic was interrupted by the feeling of pressure on his wrist.

He looked at **Sky High**, hugging his arm. _That's right. _He thought, a feeling of serenity moving back through him, washing out the nervousness that had plagued him all his life. _I have an indomitable spirit. It'll see me through. That life that Whitesnake gave back..._

_Stop lying to yourself. They can't take your life away. _He reminded himself. _Just like Whitesnake wasn't able to give you your life back._

Fahr's Disease was usually hereditary. In the last year, his balance had become increasingly poor, along with his hand-eye coordination. Just his luck, right?

He was so tired.

But he couldn't stop now. He had a debt to repay.

Rikiel closed his eyes, and took control of his rods, sending them out across the street, searching for any sign of his targets. It was a minute before he found them, hiding under a bus. They were bizarrely small.

_How did they manage that? Did **Soft and Wet **take away their height? No, it probably doesn't work like that. It doesn't matter. I just need to end them._

He sent a rod spiralling after them, ready to finish this, but King Nothing fired yet more fluid to ward it off. The volume of the it was reduced, to a comparable level as his size, but it was enough to layer the rod's frill. The rod couldn't compensate for the increase in drag on one side fast enough, and went veering off, smacking into a tire at high speeds.

"Persistent..." He muttered to himself.

He walked over to the bus, rocking back and forth on his unsteady legs, and bent down to look underneath, positioning his head next to one of the tires. The two stared back at him, grim looks on their faces.

"Your Quirk," King Nothing began. "It lets you manipulate probability."

"Not quite how you're thinking." Rikiel rubbed his chin. "Well, I know your abilities. In the interest of fairness, and in honour of the spirit you've shown me… I'll explain.

"My Quirk is called Misfortune. It _does _alter probability, but it isn't a conscious decision on my part. My Quirk is abnormally passive. Misfortune radiates out from me, increasing the likelihood of something unlucky occurring. If you're within its radius, the chance of some negative event befalling you is drastically improves."

"The entire time we were dealing with you, nothing occurred. Until you threw those knives." King Nothing pointed out.

"That's not quite true, but close enough. Yeah, my Quirk is very passive, but it's still an emission type. I can't turn it off no matter what I do. But I can push more of my energy into it, and in doing so increase its effect exponentially."

Rikiel glared down at his open palm, as if he could see some physical representation of his Misfortune if he looked hard enough. _I can make it worse, but never better. It won't turn off. Not until I…well. It won't be long now, at least._

"But now, it's time to talk about you. Soft and Wet, your Quirk lets you fix your body after an attack… but at this size? Your entire body will be affected. Your death will be instantaneous." Rikiel said, in a quiet tone. "You won't have time to heal yourself."

"I'm not going to die here." Soft and Wet responded. His voice was quiet as well, but rather than the grim undertones Rikiel's had, the hero's voice was wrought with exhaustion.

A new rod flew under the bus, aiming straight for Soft and Wet. King Nothing halted its attack the same way as before, with his Quirk's fluid damaging the rod's aerodynamics.

But it was clearly taking its toll. King Nothing gasped in pain. His hand moved to massage his wrist, and he hissed under his breath.

"You can't keep protecting yourselves. You've reached your limit. This war of attrition… is mine to win." _I hold the __grand __spirit of human endeavours. Like All Might. Like Apollo Eleven. I _will_ win._

"You helped teach me this yourself, Sky High." Soft and Wet said. "Allow me to return the favour. Never assume a victory."

A bubble drifted into view from behind the tire Rikiel had his head next to. _How long was that there? He let me monologue._ Rikiel thought with a grimace. He tried to pull back, but his balance was off, and he stumbled a bit, halting the motion for a precious second.

It popped against the side, and a hole appeared in the tire.

The pressurised air burst out in a jet, aimed straight for Rikiel. The force of it tore a hole straight through his cheek. His mouth filled with blood and shredded skin as he instinctively leapt away, clutching a hand to the side of cheek. He cried out for a moment before gagging on the pieces of his own face.

"That wath thkillfully done." He lisped under his breath, before spitting the gore out onto the ground.

The Stand, **Soft and Wet**, appeared in front of him. Unlike its master, it was normal sized. It wasted no time, throwing a punch his way with a shout of 'Ora'.

He staggered back, barely avoiding the blow.

Rikiel panted. The fatigue was setting in. His limbs felt numb. _Just a few seconds ago, I was confident in my victory. How did it turn around so quickly?_

A bubble floated on top of **Soft and Wet**'s fist, a dark brown liquid held inside.

_Gasoline. _He realised. _From the bus._

One blow from that, and he'd be dead. The old anxiety twisted in his gut. Had he come so far, just to fail? Was he going to fail Whitesnake so completely?

Blood trickled down his jaw as his heart pounded. Would this really be the end?

"No!" Rikiel shouted, his voice full of conviction, surprising even himself.

_No. Whether it's the end or not… I have that spirit. Like All Might. Like Apollo Eleven. The same as soldiers who die for what they believe in, right or wrong. That spirit can be one of sacrifice too, if it must be. _He closed his eyes.

_When you weigh how little I have left to sacrifice against the possibility of victory, of repaying my debt to Whitesnake… that's a bargain. _

_That's right. I've been lying to myself. Whitesnake didn't give me my life back. He helped me live for the first time, even if it was only a little while. _That's_ why I owe him such a debt. _Rikiel opened his eyes once more, and pressed what remained of his lips flat against each other.

**Soft and Wet**'s fist came hurtling towards him, but it felt like it was in slow motion.

Rikiel could feel one of his rods. It wasn't close enough to reach the heroes before explosive blow would land, but if he could block the attack for a second, it would be enough. He could kill Soft and Wet, and then, with only a tracking Stand and a worn out Quirk, King Nothing would be at his mercy. He just had to block for a moment.

He threw his arm up, aiming to smash his wrist against **Soft and Wet**'s forearm, and divert its punch from it course. Only a Stand could harm another Stand, so his own wrist wouldn't alter the attack in any way. But **Sky High**, as physically weak as it was, was still a Stand. Attached to his wrist, it would be able to impact **Soft and Wet**.

"I'm Apollo Eleven!" Rikiel shouted, throwing his arm towards the Stand.

And then he swayed. _Symptoms include loss of fine motor controls, and impaired hand-eye coordination._

He misjudged the distance, and his wrist hit empty air. The Stand's forearm slammed into his own, shattering his radial bone. The fist flew towards his face, the explosive bubble front and centre.

_Just my luck._

* * *

Josuke looked out at the body laying on the pavement. It was immense, compared to their current diminutive statures. A large scorch mark covered the upper half. Well, what remained of the upper half.

"Dammit." He muttered to himself. "He's dead, and we couldn't get any information from him at all."

"There's still a chance." Norisuke said, coming up behind him. His phone was out. "There are clearly other Stand-using villains in the city right now. We just need to track them down."

He turned on his phone, and began scrolling through the Hero Network.

"Purple Haze and Manual are the primary heroes dealing with the strange creatures running around." The man noted. Then he started mumbling. "Where is Haato, she's barely said anything since she mentioned finding a weird hole just before everything went crazy."

A ping sounded out.

"A new message! From Haato, no less. Let's see..." Norisuke opened it up and began reading. His face went pale, and he turned with a quick, jerky motion to look at Josuke.

"It's Joshu! They got into a fight with a villain, and Joshu, he- I have to find them!" **King Nothing **materialised in its humanoid form, and plucked Norisuke up off the ground with two of its fingers before it went bounding off.


End file.
